Not What It Is
by krish
Summary: Frank and Joe thinks they're on an easy, usual kind of case. Never did they made up their minds that revenge is making its way to them. Please read and review. Corrections, suggestions etc. are welcome. Thank you. :-)
1. Chapter 1

Not What It Is

****

Chapter 1

"So where are we next?" Vanessa Bender asked her best friend Callie Shaw after having her last sip from her iced tea drink. The two of them were sitting at a cafe at the Bayport Mall, having a break from their shopping that weekend after having a tiring week at school. 

Callie smiled and teased, "Aren't you tired yet? We've been here for more than four and a half hours now. In fact, if we stay longer here, Joe might start to miss you and your phone might not stop ringing with Joe calling, not until we get home," referring to Vanessa's boyfriend Joe Hardy.

Vanessa smiled back, then pretended to be confused and asked, "Who's Joe?"

They laughed then Callie said, "Okay, okay.. I get it! You, Ms. Vanessa Bender, doesn't want to go home yet. I mean, you don't want to stop our shopping for now. Even if it means not caring if Joe gets worried or misses you or anything!" She smiled, then she looked thoughtful for a while then shook her head lightly, the smile now gone from her pretty face.

Vanessa noticed this then asked, "You alright?"

Callie looked at Vanessa then said, "Mm-hmm. Yeah, I'm fine. It's just that Frank.." referring to Joe's brother, Frank, who is Callie's boyfriend.

Vanessa smiled sympathetically at Callie then stood up, got hold of her shopping bags and offered her other hand to her friend. "That's going to be alright, Cal. I'm sure of that. You can talk to him later again about it. But before that, why don't we have another last hour of shopping?"

Callie looked down for a while, took a deep breath, took the paper bags containing the few clothes and accessories she had bought for herself and took Vanessa's hand with her free one. She looked at Vanessa and couldn't help chuckling. _Van's really something. And I guess that that something is what had made us friends…_ she thought with a smile.

Oblivious to the two, a man has been watching them since they stepped on the mall… 


	2. Chapter 2

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Chapter 2

Frank Hardy paced back and forth their living room. The eighteen-year old had a look of uneasiness in his handsome face and kept on looking at their phone as if waiting for a phone call. Then his blond, seventeen-year old brother entered the room and said, "Frank, stop. Aren't you getting dizzy yet? I'm watching you from the dining room and I'm the one getting dizzy." He sat down in their couch and then reached for the remote. "Hey, sit down bro." Then he opened the television.

Frank looked at his brother and sighed. _Well, he's in good mood. Why can't he be? He had a nice Valentine's Day yesterday. Unlike me and…_ he sighed and then sat down beside Joe.

"If you're waiting for Callie to call, forget it. She and Van are in the mall right now and I doubt if they're on their way home now," Joe said to his brother while his eyes still on the television. He was changing from one channel to another, trying to find a decent show to watch. Giving up, he switched off the television and looked at his brother. "Really, Frank. What is it that you and Callie had fought about? It can't be that serious, right?"

Frank remained silent as if Joe hadn't said anything.

Joe sighed and then leaned back on the couch then muttered to himself, "Yeah, I'm invisible. No, Frank. I haven't said anything." Then threw a dirty look at Frank. _What wrong with my brother anyway? Oh yeah, that thing with Callie…_

"Hey Frank?"

Frank turned at Joe and said, "Yeah?"

"What is it? C'mon, tell me. What did you and Cal argue about? I mean, I know I'm not supposed to ask this since it's supposed to be something private but bro, you look, uh, confused and everything," Joe said.

Frank looked at Joe then said, "All right, all right. It's just that… the other night before, the night before Valentine's Day.." he shook his head lightly, then continued, "..I was at Callie's, right?" He waited for Joe to remember then said, "We were trying smooth things out between the two of us since, well, you guys noticed that Cal and I have been kind of having short fuses for some weeks ago. We thought that it would be really nice if things are perfect between us on Valentine's Day and onwards. Big mistake! We told each other to give reasons for our unusual behavior for those few weeks and we ended up having an argument. You know, the kind that "… you shouldn't have tried to do that.." or "..that doesn't make sense.." and well, you get the idea. We didn't listen to each other when we reasoned ourselves out." He leaned back on the couch and said, "Now, we celebrated Love's Day by ourselves. Nice," he said ironically. 

Joe looked at Frank with a confused look and cleared his throat before saying, "That's it?"

Frank gave Joe a surprised look and all he can say was, "Huh?"

Joe looked embarrassed a bit then said, "Van and I argues that way all the time. No, no. I mean, sometimes. But we make up right away. Then, you're telling me that that's your reason for.. all of this?"

Frank felt like he wanted to punch his brother, but held himself and instead, he found himself chuckling.

Joe blushed then asked defiantly, "What's funny?"

"You, little brother, you." He shook his head as if amazed then said, "You compared me and Callie from you and Vanessa?" He chuckled again. "That's like comparing black from white."

"Oh, really? And you guys are the white and Van and I are black? Haha. Very funny," Joe said with an annoyed look.

But after that, Frank's smile was now gone and was replaced again by a problematic look, "But Joe, how do you solve it? Don't tell me it's just a "..sorry hon.." and then it's done?"

Joe nodded, "Exactly. Of course, you have to explain yourselves CALMLY again so that everything's settled."

Frank was still dubious but said, "Okay……………"

Joe chuckled and said, "Really Frank. The way you acted and all, I thought it was something serious. Not that it wasn't serious and all, but, oh never mind."

Frank looked at him questioningly.

Joe replied his look with "It's just that, uh, it's not worth missing the spirit of Valentine's Day and …"

Just then the doorbell rang.

"That must be them now," Joe said, happy for a distraction and went to open the door.

Frank got nervous and thought, _C'mon Frank, it's just Callie. You have to sort things out now_.

Vanessa greeted Joe with a kiss in the cheek and then said, "Hi Frank!" Callie, on the other hand, was greeted by Joe with a high-five. Frank couldn't help thinking how things changed between his brother and his girlfriend. Before, they're like cats and dogs. _But now, things between them seemed to be smoother than between me and Cal._

"We decided to buy a pizza before going here," Vanessa announced to them with a sly smile to Callie. Whatever she was smiling about, the two guys had no idea. Frank decided to just leave it to the two of them, but Joe…

"Yes? What _is _it that you two are thinking about?" Joe asked pointedly to the girls.

"Joe!" Vanessa couldn't help rolling her eyes. "Really, some things are just left to us." Then she gave the box of pizza to Joe and dragged him to the kitchen. "We'll be just preparing, uh, our drinks." Then she gave Callie an encouraging smile. Joe, understanding what Vanessa has in mind, just remained quiet and lead Vanessa to the kitchen.


	3. Chapter 3

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Chapter 3

Frank looked at Callie, wondering if she will speak first. _Of course you have to go first, Frank. C'mon, you can do that. You've chased down murderers in the past, how come you're scared of Callie? _Then answering himself, he thought, _Because she's my Cal, and one wrong word…_he winced, not wanting to think about it.

He started to say, "Cal.." when at the same time, Callie said, "Frank.."

They stopped, stared at each other then couldn't help chuckling.

"My, we're taking everything too seriously, huh?" Callie said, sitting closer to Frank, who in turn patted his lap for Callie to sit on. Callie smiled and raised an eyebrow but complied anyway.

"Honey, I'm really sorry. Really. I guess there was just too much tension for the two of us the past few weeks, don't you think?" Frank whispered to Callie.

"Mm-hmm…" she said then turned to face Frank. "I can't believe that we had let that ruin our Valentine's!" she said, shaking her head in disbelief. 

"Then, let's make up for it. We can do nothing now, since February 14 has passed now, but we can still go out for a late Valentine's date, right?" Frank said with a soft smile to Callie, making Callie smile back.

"Yeah, I guess so... I mean, of course… " Callie said as Frank tilted her chin and was about to kiss her when…

"Ahem... children…" Joe said with a smile. Vanessa, meanwhile, punched Joe in the arm while laughing herself. 

"Hey, easy Van. We don't want to have a soda flood in here, do you?" Joe asked Vanessa with a grin.

Vanessa shrugged and said, "I don't care as long as you're the one cleaning," then added, "Oops, I forgot the pizza," and went back to the kitchen with a laugh.

Joe shook his head then put the tray of glasses with soda on the coffee table. Then he turned to his brother and Callie, who were now sitting beside each other on the couch, looking innocent. "So, you guys okay now?"

Frank and Callie just looked at each other and smiled, as if not hearing Joe.

"Hey Frank? That's the second time today that you acted as if I'm not here," Joe said, annoyed but pleased at the same time that the two had made up.

Just then, they heard a scream from the kitchen. It was unmistakably Vanessa's voice.


	4. Chapter 4

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Chapter 4

"Van!" Joe shouted and ran for the kitchen with Frank and Callie right behind him. "What the… hey, what is this all about?"

Vanessa was sitting on the floor and by the looks of her position, she seemed to have slipped. But, at the same time, she was laughing and trying to put herself up. Joe crouched down beside her and asked her, "You okay?" although he knew what her answer would be.

Vanessa had calmed down a bit then said with a smile, "Yeah, it's just that.." and was laughing again. 

Frank and Callie went also to stand near to Vanessa and they and Joe seemed to be quite amused with Vanessa'a behavior. 

Vanessa stopped laughing and then said to them, "Oh, nothing. I just slipped, obviously, and screamed, obviously again. What made me laughing like mad is…" she chuckled, then continued with "… this."

She held up a Blue Clues cap, then turned it back, and there, embroidered in black, was the name **JOE**. 

Joe blushed and Frank, Callie and Vanessa couldn't help laughing. 

Callie just couldn't pass up this opportunity to tease Joe. She turned to him with fraudulent seriousness and said, "Joe Hardy, I didn't know you love Blues Clues, huh?" Then she turned to Frank, "Tell me Frank. Do you and Joe secretly share the same like? I mean, this is Blues _Clues_ after all." And she and Vanessa couldn't help giggling. 

"Hey, don't push this into me. Who's name is on the cap anyway? You guys see it clearly. It's J-O-E," Frank spelled out and couldn't help adding, "There, it's Joe." And gave his younger brother a teasing smile.

Joe shook his head slightly and muttered to himself, "Nice job, Van."

"You're saying something, honey?" Vanessa asked Joe with a mischievous glint in her bluish-gray eyes. She stood up and then said, "I'm sorry Joe. I didn't mean to stumble into your little secret," which made Frank and Callie laughing again and Joe looking away, scowling. At the same time, Vanessa secretly placed a folded up letter in the back pocket of her jeans while the others were not looking.

Joe looked back at the three, sighed and said, "All right, you win. I lose. _For the first time_," he emphasized. "But c'mon, guys, it's just a cap."

"A _Blues Clues_ cap," Frank retorted.

"Yeah, yeah. Maybe I'm just hungry that's why I can't think of a good get-away and comeback for your teasing," Joe replied. Then said, "Now let me get the pizza a certain lady here was supposed to get a while ago before all of this, uh, misfortune for me," he couldn't help saying.

Vanessa rolled her eyes as she got plates and napkins for all of them. "Really Joe. You're making it sound as if it's my fault that I discovered that you have a Blues Clues cap."

Joe just smiled, got the pizza and the four made their way to the living room.

Meanwhile, a man a few feet away from the Hardy home was satisfied with the couple of shots he got with his camera. _Everything's going perfect so far_, he thought.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

"So, what do you guys want to watch?" Joe asked the others as they chose among the 5 videos that Vanessa and Callie had borrowed from the video rental shop on their way to the Hardy home from the mall. He was hoping that they would choose Matrix, since the other videos that the girls had borrowed were mostly romance or romantic comedy. He had tried to keep from rolling his eyes when Vanessa passed him the videos a while ago.

"I know what you're thinking," Vanessa said to Joe with a tired smile. "You're probably thinking why Callie and I borrowed this videos, even if we know that you're not going to like them. Well, you guys have been picking the movies we've been watching for the last few months, now give. us. the. chance. this time."

"Well, in that case, Matrix it is," Frank said, hoping to avoid being showered with Vanessa and his little brother's opinions about this movie and that. "Callie, you'll go with that, won't you?" he asked his girlfriend.

Callie looked at Vanessa with a questioning look, then shrugged, "I guess we have no choice. Let's just hang out later at our house and watch the other movies we borrowed, Van. Hey, maybe you could sleep over at our place? We haven't done that for some time."

Vanessa thought for a while then said, "Well, since mom won't be back until tomorrow afternoon. Why not? As long as Mr. and Mrs. Shaw wouldn't mind though."

Callie replied, "That's a no problem with them."

"I think I like that too. I'd feel much better knowing that you're with the Shaws than alone in your house for the night." Joe said, while putting his arm around her shoulders and gave her a kiss in the cheek.

Vanessa smiled warmly at Joe then said, "All right guys." Then she paused. "I guess Matrix it is."

***

"What a day!" Vanessa said as she crawled into the sleeping bed she brought with her after she and Callie passed by to her house to get her things when they left their boyfriends' home. Vanessa felt tired after all the shopping they did at the mall, the fun they had at the Hardy's place plus now that it's almost 1 am when she and Callie finished the third movie they had watched for that night.

"Yeah," Callie agreed, feeling her own body ache for all they had done for the day. She closed the lights of her room and only the dim light of her lamp was left open. "Do you mind the lamp, Van?"

"Hmmm? Oh, not at all. It's fine with me whether you leave it open or not," Vanessa replied, trying to stifle a yawn.

"I guess I'll just turn it off, then," Callie said and then switched off the pink lamp with light bluish design on the night table beside her bed. "Goodnight, Van."

"Night, Cal," Vanessa replied sleepily. She was so tired, so tired that she forgot about that letter she had put in her pocket that afternoon.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

"Hey Edwin, get up."

Marc Edwin was still sleeping on his hard bed in the jail room he shares with Darry "Chipz" Drogue when he heard someone call him. He cracked one eye open and asked "What?"

"You're now free," he heard the guard say which made him open both of his eyes this time now.

"I'm what?" he asked, unsure if what he heard was right. He sat up and looked at the guard.

"I said, you, Marc Jeffrey Edwin, are now free to leave jail," the guard, named Robert, said to him louder this time.

"It's not yet April 1, Robert," Edwin said, stretching his arms and yawning. "You've got no right yet to fool me this time of the morning, not until April Fool's Day, ya know."

"Joke all you want, Edwin, but one look at my face and you'll know I'm serious," Robert said then the brown-haired guard turned to leave.

Edwin just stared after him in confusion. _The old man's crazy_, he thought. Then he heard someone talk to him and realized that Chipz has woken up now. "Wh.. what happened?" the big guy asked while stifling a yawn. 

"Nothing, my friend," Edwin answered, then stared again at the guard's face. _Robert sure seems like serious. I mean, his face is dead serious_. "He just said that I'm now free. Free to go." He looked at his jail mate who was now wide-awake and staring at him with wide eyes. He couldn't help not missing Chipz' tousled sandy-gray hair that matched the color of his eyes. "You don't think he's serious, is he?"

Chipz' mind seemed to have gone back to earth and asked in surprise, "So it's true? I've been hearing bits and pieces of rumor around here saying that you'd be free soon."

"I didn't know about that," Edwin said honestly then, still dubious, he asked the guard, "Hey, Robert, can I get my things now?"

The guard just grunted in reply.

"Yoohoo! You're free man, you're free now! Do you know what that means? You can live your life again! Wow man, am I so jealous of you!" Chipz told Edwin excitedly while hugging the lean body of his mate whom he had known for almost three and a half years in jail.

"Yeah, I guess so. I'll just, uh, get the very few stuff that I, I have," Edwin replied, still shocked about the news. He let himself be let out of the cell by Robert then headed to the bathroom. He stood in front of the mirror. He saw his reflection and couldn't answer the question forming in the green eyes of the man he saw looking back at him. _Things got too fast in my life_, he thought. Then he shook his head and damped his jet black hair with some water and headed back to his cell.

In half an hour, Marc Edwin was ready to go outside and be free. His bag, containing some of his clothes and few things, is now packed and he has signed all the papers that required him to sign before leaving jail. He looked back at Chipz, gave a final nod, and finally set himself out to freedom


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

"History.. then what?" Joe was going through the books in his locker when a pair of hands closed over his eyes and then he heard a sweet voice ask him, "Guess who?"

Joe smiled, knowing who it is, but then pretended to be excited and said, "Ursula? Oh my gosh, could that be you?"

Vanessa removed her hands from Joe's eyes and then punched Joe's left arm playfully, "Oh really, Blues Clues boy?" she teased softly at Joe, not wanting to embarrass him that Monday morning with many of their schoolmates out there by the lockers area.

Joe put his books in his backpack, closed his locker and then put his arms around Vanessa's waist and whispered to her, "Gee, I'm flattered," and couldn't help chuckling himself.

Vanessa rolled her eyes and said, "Well, if you really enjoy being addressed like that, why, I don't mind greeting you that way every morning, not minding the students around us."

"O c'mon Van, you know I'm just kidding," Joe complained, then paused and grinned. "Hey, I haven't even greeted my baby formally this morning." He leaned in and was about to kiss Vanessa in the lips when someone called out to them, "Get a room, guys."

Joe looked up and saw Frank and Callie walking towards them with Frank's arm around Callie's shoulders.

He turned back to a giggling Vanessa and whispered to her, "Don't mind them," and kissed her.

Frank shook his head and said to Callie, "Hon, don't you think it's too bad they're too shy to show public display of affections for each other?" making sure his voice was loud enough for his brother and Vanessa to hear.

What he said had reached its purpose because even before Callie can respond, Joe and Vanessa stopped kissing and turned to them. Vanessa spoke first and said, "C'mon Frank, you're just jealous. I know, that you don't have the courage to do something like this. In public." Then paused and added, "Just joking!"

Frank and Callie just chuckled at what Vanessa said but Joe added, "Tell me, big brother. Have you kissed Callie this morning?"

Frank smiled, "Yes, little brother. And so, what it is to you now?"

Joe seemed lost for words for something to comeback to Frank and gave up. "Nothing. Just asking." Then shrugged with a smile.

Callie shook her head lightly then said cheerfully, "Guys, if you're now ready to give up that issue, let's head to class, shall we? It's the first school day of the week and I don't want to be late because I'm not in the mood to start the week with a meeting with Mrs. Carmen," referring to the school disciplinarian of Bayport High.

"Ma'am, yes, ma'am," Joe said with a salute to Callie.

*** 

That afternoon, Joe and Frank dropped Vanessa at her house, since her car was in an autoshop. She headed to her room, dropped her book bag in her bed then went to the kitchen. 

"Hi, mom!" she said to her mother, Andrea Bender, who was by the stove, cooking something.

"Hello, honey. How's school?" Andrea asked, after receiving a kiss in the cheek from her daughter.

"Same as always," Vanessa responded while looking through their cupboard for a light snack. She took out a pack of Chips Ahoy and got some milk from the refrigerator, put her snack in a tray and turned towards her room. "I'll be having an early start on my homework over snack, Mom."

After setting down the tray in her study table, Vanessa stopped and thought hard. She suddenly felt like she has forgotten something. "The letter," she said to herself. "The letter with my name on it on the folded side, which I found inside Joe's cap." She looked through her room for her jeans, all the while saying to herself, "If I'm not mistaken, I put it in the back pocket of my jeans the other day." She looked and looked for it, but she didn't find it. "Oh, I must have forgotten it at Callie's." _I'll just tell her tomorrow because if I call her right now, I might not finish all these stacked homework for us today,_ she thought.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

"Joe, we're going to be late if you don't wake up now. I'm serious, Joe," Frank said, that next morning, a dark blue towel wrapped around his waist. He rapped his knuckles once again at Joe's door from the bathroom, which connected the boys' rooms.

Joe stirred, buried his face in his pillow then asked in a muffled voice, "What's the time?"

"8:05, bro, so you better get up. We still have 15 minutes to get to school." He paused then said, "I guess I also overslept," he said, annoyed.

Joe got up from his bed slowly, yawned and said, "Well, there's a first time in everything."

"Yeah, right. Now take your shower fast," Frank said before turning to his room and closed the door.

*** 

"You think we can still make it if you drive?" Joe asked as they went out the door. "No, I don't think so," he said, answering his own question. "Keys, Frank."

"Who said you're driving?" Frank asked, but gave the keys to the black van he and his brother shared and have used in many of their cases.

Joe shrugged, "I did. Who's the faster driver of us, anyway?"

Frank just muttered, "Fine", under his breath then went to the passenger seat of the van. "Just make sure you can get us there in..", he checked his watched then continued, ".. 4 minutes, _without_ getting us in an accident, okay?"

"Sure thing," Joe responded then turned their van out of their driveway fast, almost blowing Mrs. Hardy's planted flowers with the van.

*** 

"You got here in 3 minutes?!" Vanessa asked Joe in disbelief while Joe was in his locker that morning.

"Yeah. Now where's that book?!" Joe asked, panicky.

"What are you looking for..?" Vanessa asked but was cut off by Joe's reply.

"Chemistry.. there it is!" he said triumphantly but right after he pulled his book out, there was an explosion.

And Joe Hardy was thrown backward, unconscious.

*** 

"Joe?"

Joe stirred and opened his eyes slowly but shut it again abruptly, blinded by some light. "Who're you? Where am I?" he asked, his voice slurred. 

"Did he regain consciousness now?" He heard a different voice now, an older one.

"Yeah. He even tried to open his eyes but.." a third, male voice replied.

Then Joe felt like it darkened.

"I closed the lights for a while," the same elderly voice said. "Frank, open the curtains, please."

Joe finally opened his eyes. The first person he saw was Vanessa. He asked, "Am I in heaven now? I'm seeing an angel."

He saw Vanessa smile and heard his brother snort in his reply. He looked around his surroundings slowly, trying to ignore the dizziness, and after seeing the white walls and cabinets around him, he realized that he was in the school clinic.

"I think he's fine now, Mrs. Dawson," Frank said to the school nurse. "He's starting to joke now."

"Typical little Hardy, I guess," Mrs. Dawson said, smiling.

"No, no. I'm not yet fine. My head hurts, Mrs. Dawson," Joe pleaded to the school nurse he has known for years.

"If it wasn't for the explosion in your locker Joe, I wouldn't have believed you. That's always your excuse just to miss class," Mrs. Dawson said, while she moved closer to Joe and checked the bruise on his forehead, then the lump at the back of his head.

"I think you can miss class for today and stay here for a while, Joe. You're not fine enough to take classes yet so I'll let you go home later. Mr. S wants to talk to you though," she continued.

Joe cast a look on Frank and Vanessa, his eyes asking, _What could it be about?_

Mrs. Dawson saw that look then said, "I'll leave you for a while and when I come back, Ms. Bender should go back to class. Same goes for Frank." When she saw Frank hesitate, she added, "Mrs. Carmen said that the school bus will take your brother home." Frank just nodded and Mrs. Dawson left.

Eyes closed, Joe asked, "What happened? All I remember is, uh, I'm by the lockers? With Vanessa right?" He opened his eyes and saw Vanessa take the seat beside him. 

"Mm-hmm," Vanessa said, taking Joe right hand in both of her hands. "Then you pulled out your chemistry book and there was an explosion, knocking you out. You hit your head on the lockers and you fell to the floor. That hurts doesn't it?" she asked sympathetically. 

"Yeah.." Joe closed his eyes again. "What caused the explosion anyway?"

"That we don't know exactly yet, but there were traces of powder found near your things. Familiar?" Frank asked.

"Yeah..."

"So I think when you pulled your Chem book, it triggered or pulled something, causing the explosion, which could be.." Frank said which was continued by Joe.

".. a prank. So now, Mr. S wants to talk to me. I'm pretty sure he's having doubts whether it really is a prank or just a plan of mine that went wrong," Joe said, annoyed. Mr. Schneid was the principal of Bayport High.

"Uh-uh. I don't think so. He's silly if he thinks that way. If you planned that, then you should have planted the powder by yourself in your locker, but why would you do that, knowing you'll get hurt? You're just unfortunate to be the victim of a prank," Vanessa said.

"But if it really is a prank, what is this?" Frank asked then pulled a small, plastic bag out of his backpack on the chair. It looked like a small sandwich bag, only thicker. Inside was a folded paper. "I saw this inside your locker, if that's what you still call it after what happened. It's taped on the bottom, lucky that it didn't blow off."

Joe tried to get up, but Vanessa pulled him back down, got two pillows from the other bed and put it behind Joe's head.

Then there was a knock at the door and they saw Callie poke her head inside. "There you are!" she said and went near them.

"Lunch time already,' she told them and kissed Frank in the cheek. "I was at Physics already when someone told me what happened. You okay, Joe?"

"Still hurts, especially my head. It's getting better, slowly though," Joe responded.

"There were traces of powder, the kind you see inside mild explosives, in Joe's things after the explosion, and this was taped in the bottom of his locker," Frank briefed to Callie. "I haven't read what's inside yet. Maybe there's a pair of gloves here or something?"

Callie and Vanessa gave each other a look right after he said that. They both knew that simple things like this usually lead their boyfriends to a case.

Frank saw a pair inside the drawer at the foot of Joe's bed. He wore them, at the same time muttering "I hope Mrs. Dawson doesn't mind," and took the paper inside. He read it then gave the others a confused look and said, "It's… weird."

Joe tried to get up again to see the paper closely but Vanessa pulled him down while saying, "Take it easy, hon."

Frank showed the paper to them. When Vanessa saw it, she saw that the paper, its texture and light shade color, looked familiar. She saw a red leaf design at the lower-right hand of the paper and thought, _That doesn't look familiar to me, though._

Callie looked at the paper closer and read what was inside, "Born, torn, sorrow, bare."


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

They just sat there, staring at the words on the paper. 

"Uh, nice prank?" Callie said uncertainly, then took a look at Frank.

Frank saw Callie looking at him then he said, "Maybe this is just nothing. We don't have to take this seriously. This could be just a prank or maybe somebody intended it for some one else and put it in Joe's locker by mistake or maybe, all of this is just a bad joke to make us look fools, putting ourselves through nothing. There are lots of possibilities, guys."

They looked at each other silently then laughed, easing the tension that had formed among them.

"I guess you're right, Frank," Vanessa said, then brushed her hand through Joe's hair. 

Frank took off the gloves, put the paper back into the plastic and placed it back in his bag. He thought, _It wouldn't hurt to keep it either. Who knows what importance it has for us soon?_

Then there was a knock at the door and Mrs. Dawson entered inside. 

"Now, that's enough. You three should go have your lunch quickly now and head to your classes. Don't worry about Joe here. After Mr. S talks to him, he'll be allowed to go home. I've called your mother already. She said she'll fetch you," she added to Joe.

Callie gave Joe a soft smile and said "Bye," while Vanessa kissed Joe's cheek and whispered something to him which made Joe whisper to her in return, then both girls left the room. Frank got his bag, squeezed his brother's hand and was the last one to leave the room. Then Mrs. Dawson said, "The principal's outside already. I made him promise that your talk with him would be a short one to keep that head of yours from stress and then Mrs. Hardy will get you." She gave Joe's hand a pat then left.

The door opened before the school nurse could touch it and the principal appeared, letting the nurse go out first before going in himself and closing the door behind him. Mr. Schneid was a fine-built man in his late forties. He has dark hair streaked with graying ones. The tall man took the seat that Vanessa occupied and looked steadily at Joe. Then he began talking.

"You're probably thinking that I've readied my sermon for you, but no need to worry Mr. Hardy. I just want to ask you a few questions."

Joe sighed in relief then said to the principal, "Shoot right away, sir."

The principal smiled and couldn't help believing how carefree Joe can still be even when he is with the principal. Then he continued, "Do you have enemies here at Bayport High? I know this could be just a joke or a prank but you got hurt pretty seriously, something that cannot be just put aside."

Joe tried to look serious and said, "Well, sir, if you're asking if I have enemies here in school, more or less, those could be the boyfriends of the girls that have a, well, crush on me, and there could be many of them," he said, trying hard not to smile.

Mr. Schneid managed not to roll his eyes but then thoughtfully said to the young man in front of him, "You can consider that as a joke and _as a truth_, Hardy."

"I know, Mr. Schneid," Joe responded then chuckled. "So what do we do now about it?"

"Lay low for a while, Joe," Mr. Schneid said. "We don't want you in any more danger. You had enough with your past and present, in case there are, cases."

"Lay low?! What does that mean, sir? I can't do that. You can't blame me though. My natural good looks can't be ignored by girls no matter what I do and…"

"… and one more word, I'll call Ms. Bender now to help us in this matter," the principal finished for him, making Joe speechless. "You thought I don't know about you and Ms. Bender, Mr. Hardy?" the principal asked, his green eyes twinkling with mischief. "Apparently, your display of actions is too obvious too miss so even I catch it." 

Joe was simply stunned by the principal's response for him and couldn't help grinning.

"Now, are you sure you don't have other enemies? Worse, possibly? Are you and your brother on a case today that might have led to this?"

"None that I know of, sir," Joe said, his thoughts turning back to the mysterious but probably nothing note.

"Okay. I guess that will be all." Mr. Schneid stood up and shook hands with Joe. "Tell me if ever you have any more problems regarding this. And if you are right about those guys jealous of you," the principal chuckled, "tell me and I'll just know the perfect things to do. I was on the same situation myself when I was your age, even younger."

"Yeah, right, sir," Joe said with a laugh.

"I believe your mother is out there already, waiting for you," the principal said and then helped Joe get up and meet Mrs. Hardy.

*** 

Outside the school building, near the clinic, a cell phone rang.

"Hello?"

"You able to do it?"

"Yeah. He hit his head on the lockers and must have seen a thousand stars before getting knocked out. He's recovering now though. Now can you explain everything to me? I don't do things for nothing, ya know."

"Okay. Head right over here. Just pickup Marc on your way here, okay? I want to fill in the two of you."

"Yeah, yeah."

Chipz turned off his cellphone and left the school grounds, ready to meet again his old jail mate.


	10. Author's Note

Author's note

I just posted Chapter 9. After that, I might send the next ones a week or a couple of weeks after. Our nearing exams at school will be taking up my time plus the projects and all. Hopefully, IF I can still squeeze in some extra time for posting the chapters, you will be able to have the chapters even if I still have my exams.

Thank you, everyone, for your reviews. I appreciate them all. Knowing that there are people reading my first fan fiction story really makes me delighted. Thanks a lot to you all!

J 


	11. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

"So what'd you think?" Chipz asked earnestly at Marc Edwin right before entering the large abandoned hardware where they were told to have the meeting. They stopped outside the closed gate and decided to talk first before buzzing in.

Marc just shrugged, "I don't know. You're the one who knows about this guy, but since I'm doing nothing, anyway, I decided to join you in this although I couldn't help thinking that doing this kind of thing is pretty normal for me, or us already. It's like blunted now."

"Yeah, I know man, but I'm getting the feeling that this will be different. _Really _different," the big guy replied with a mischievous grin.

Marc furrowed his brows and said, "Now what are you hiding from me, man? You've been like that ever since you fetched me. Care to share?" Marc asked.

"Uh-uh. You'll see man," Chipz said then pressed the buzzer.

The metal door's small window opened and a voice said, "He's expecting you. But before I let you in, he still wants to be sure though."

Chipz stepped forward and put his chubby hand inside the small window. 

__

He seems to know exactly what to do, Marc thought.

"Go in," the voice inside the door said.

The metal door on the left side opened and then Marc asked Chipz before entering, "What was that that you just did?"

Chipz shrugged and said, "Before going here, I was told through the phone that they have to be sure that I am really the one who's coming. They got my fingerprint when I put my hand inside as told over the phone. They checked it right away. Fast, eh?" he asked, loving the surprised look of his friend. "I told you this is different."

"Yeah, yeah," Marc muttered under his breath but couldn't help agreeing to his chum's words. _This really feels different._

The man, hidden behind the door before letting them in, led them inside. Marc was surprised that the abandoned hardware looked like an inside of a house. _Woah! No one would expect this to look… to look like this._ There was a living room, complete with a combination of green and blue living room set, then a dining room and kitchen plus a few other rooms. _No one would feel like they're inside an abandoned hardware!_

"Impressed?" he heard Chipz ask, but he decided not to reply. They were led into a room guarded by two armed men. 

__

"This is probably the room for the boss", Marc thought. The man talked to one of the guards then they were led inside. _Boss' office type… _Marc thought. 

The room has navy blue wallpaper. At the right side, there was an office desk, a set of 3 seats near the desk with a small television in front and two seats opposite the desk. At the left side were a large air conditioner, water dispenser and refreshment table. _The boss could live here without going outside,_ Marc thought again.

Behind the desk sat a tall man with black hair. They were led near to him and the man who let them in motioned them to sit. They sat then the "boss" looked at them and Marc was suddenly surprised. "_This man is…"_

"You're father," the "boss" said in a calm voice while looking at Marc. "How are you, Marc?"

"Dad?! What are you doing here? You're the boss here? This place is yours? How?" Marc questioned then paused, "You're the one who… who let me out… aren't you?"

"Yes, and Chipz here as well," Mr. Edwin said smoothly, turning back to the papers he was arranging.

Chipz smiled at Marc and said, "I told you this is different."

"And you didn't tell me right away. You knew about this way ahead of me, right?" Marc asked, annoyed.

"Not really. I was freed the next day after you were released and wasn't informed that much. I already had a job done for them, just today, though."

Marc just remained quiet, thinking. After a few minutes…

"Okay. Let's start discussing things here," Mr. Edwin finally put the papers down and looked straightly at Chipz and his son. "We're going to do a revenge."


	12. Chapter 11

****

Chapter 11

"Revenge? Cool! To whom?" Chipz asked earnestly.

Marc, on the other hand, remained quiet. He got a feeling what this is all about.

"Fenton Hardy," Mr. Edwin said simply. "Things started already."

"Ah, yeah. I got it. You let me hurt that boy of his last morning. We'll be doing revenge, not directly to him, but to his sons. Cool," Chipz said, leaning back in his seat.

"Smart boy, but no that much," Mr. Edwin commented then continued, "Not only to his sons. Let's make things more exciting by adding all those connected to him. Wife, I learned he has a sister and most specially, his sons' girlfriends."

Marc finally looked at his father and stared at him.

"Yes son, I'm doing this for you. This revenge is all about you," Mr. Edwin said.

"Do we really have to do this? I'm out of jail. You're rich. I have a friend here. Why don't I just live a happy life?" Marc asked, his handsome face reflecting doubt.

"Well, like what I said, we've started already with the help of Chipz here. What we have started, we'll finish. And, wait, how about this?" Mr. Edwin opened the desk drawer and pulled out a picture of a beautiful girl, with long ash-blonde hair and blue-gray eyes.

"What the…" Marc suddenly took the picture and stared at it with a look of disbelief in his face. Then he seemed to have seen something in the picture that made him give it back to his father. "That's not her. Very much the same but I know that's not her." He shook his head, leaned back in his chair, crossed his arms over his chest and sighed.

Chipz looked at Mr. Edwin, to Marc, back to the father, and back to his friend. "Wha..at? I'm confused. Somebody tell me something."

Mr. Edwin saw that his son has no motive to tell Chipz himself. He took a deep breath then said, "This girl in the picture will have a very great part in our plan. Anyway, to answer your question, four years ago, when Marc was still seventeen, he had this girlfriend from high school. Her name was Belle Smiths. She looked just like this girl in the picture," he paused and gave the picture to Chipz and continued, "Tall with ash-blonde hair, blue-gray eyes…"

"… great smile, body, a heart of gold, sincere, sweet, funny, vivacious and she loves me." Marc continued his father's sentence without looking up.

"Exactly."

"And my chum here loves that hot girl," Chipz guessed, looking up from the picture. "So where's the pretty angel now?"

"You already said it, man. She's now an angel," Marc said, his voice slightly shaking but his emerald eyes looking down, straight and unwavering. Chipz couldn't help hearing a hint of anger in his mate's voice.

"Angel…? What do you… oh no.. I'm so sorry, man," Chipz said, suddenly washed over with the truth without telling him.

__

My angel… Belle… killed… she's dead… my Belle…

Marc propped his elbows on his knees and rested his head on his hands. He suddenly found himself hard to breathe. He stood up and walked to face a wall so that Chipz and his father couldn't see him. He rested his head on the wall as tears sprang to his eyes. Not taking anymore, he punched the wall hard five times with all the strength he has. "I hate this! Why does she have to die? Why can't I forget her? It's been three years! God, make me forget her! But why her, of all people, has to die?!" he cried out loud, tears now rolling from his eyes.

Mr. Edwin and Chipz stood up and ran to Marc who was still punching the wall even though his knuckles were now bleeding. Chipz tried to lower and keep Marc's hands from the wall. When Marc hesitated and kept on punching, Chipz wrapped his arms around Marc's waist and dragged him away from the wall. Mr. Edwin was futilely trying to calm his distressed son.

After a few moments, Marc finally became quiet and was just staring past ahead, his face stained with his tears. Chipz and Mr. Edwin looked at each other and wondered what Marc was thinking. 

"Would he be angry if I lead him to the couch? I think he needs some rest," Chipz whispered, afraid that if Marc hears him, he might become irate again.

"All the energy seemed to have gotten out of him," Mr. Edwin replied in the same manner.

Chipz went over to his friend and touched his shoulder gently. "Hey, I think you should rest in the couch or something. You're drained," he said softly.

Surprisingly, Marc stood up and went to the couch. He lied there and closed his eyes, a few tears still escaping from his eyes.

"He kept everything inside for all the years he was in jail," Chipz said, his eyes never leaving his old jail mate. "He never spoke about this."

Mr. Edwin, unbeknownst to Chipz, was seething inside and then said softly, "Damn you, Hardy, for doing this to my son. You're paying. I'm telling you. You're paying."


	13. Chapter 12

****

Chapter 12

"Where do you want, anyway?" Frank was cradling the phone in his neck while typing away in his keyboard. He was finishing some research assignment and talking to Callie at his cordless phone. They were trying to decide where to have their "late" Valentine's dinner, since they weren't able to celebrate it because of their small "argument" that time.

"Mm-hmmm… not bad… Okay… What?! Cal! I'm the one who's paying!" There was a pause, then, "No! Honey, look. It's my fault why we are having a very late Valentine's dinner so I'll be paying and anyway, even if we had that dinner on that day, it's still me paying." He paused again, listening at Callie then said, "Uh-uh. Cal…Mm-hmm… alright, alright! Dessert's yours, I'll pay for the meal. Period." Pause. Chuckling, Frank said, "All right. I'll fetch you at 6 pm. Okay… uh-huh. Yup. See you. Mm-hmm. 'Kay. Love you, too."

He hung up the phone and quickly finished the last part of his report. 

"Hey Frank?"

Frank stood up and opened the printer. "Yeah?"

"Are you going to use the van today?" Joe entered his brother's room through the connecting bathroom and sat at his brother's bed.

"Yup. Cal and I will be having our postponed date. Why?" Frank said, finally looking at his younger brother.

"Uh, nothing really," Joe responded, lying now on Frank's bed, his hands behind his head.

"Going somewhere?"

"Nah. You're using the van, anyway. I'll just call Van to come over here. We've decided to finish that project we've partnered in at school," Joe said, closing his eyes and stifling a yawn.

"Oh yeah?" Frank chuckled. "Joe?

"Hmm…?"

"If I'm not mistaken, you slept at 2 am last night, I mean, last morning and woke up at noon. Don't tell me you're still sleepy?" Frank asked incredulously, taking the paper from the printer sheet and closing the printer. He looked at his brother, who was now reaching for one of Frank's pillows. 

"I'll just take a nap. Fifteen minutes only…" he muttered.

Frank shook his head, thinking "_I really can't believe Joe." _ Speaking out loud, "I'll just take a bath and get ready for tonight."

He started to walk toward the bathroom, stopped, then turned to Joe, "Hey, don't you have a room of your own, Joe? Why take a nap here?"

"Shut up. You're too noisy," Joe muttered, turning on his side.

"And you're quieting me down, right here in my own room!" Frank grinned, debating with himself whether to annoy Joe more but then, he decided not to and turned towards the bathroom.

* * *

Frank stopped at the Shaw's driveway, checked his reflection at the mirror one last time then went out to the Shaw's door. He rang the doorbell and after a few seconds of waiting, the door was opened by a petite woman, whose looks and features matched those of her daughter. Mr. and Mrs. Shaw have always been nice to him. They always treated him like their own son and made him feel comfortable around them.

"Good evening, Mrs. Shaw," Frank said with a smile. 

"Good evening too, Frank," Mrs. Hardy said, opening the door wider to let Frank in. "Come in for a while. Callie will be ready soon."

They walked to the living room where Mr. Shaw was watching the television. He looked up when his wife and Frank came. "Frank, I haven't seen you for some time."

Mrs. Shaw motioned Frank to sit down and complying, Frank said to Mr. Shaw, "Yeah. We've been quite busy these days."

"Case?" Mr. Shaw asked knowingly.

"Nah. Joe and I are on a break for that now. I'm talking about schoolwork," Frank responded.

"Oh. Anyway, seniors seemed to be really having a pretty hard time, as I see in Callie," Mrs. Shaw said, taking a seat beside Frank.

Before Frank can respond, Callie walked in to the living room, wearing a simple but semi-elegant looking lavender dress. She walked up to Frank and kissed him in the cheek.

"You look nice, as always," Frank said softly.

"Thanks," Callie whispered back then turned to her parents. "I guess we better go now."

"Take care. Have fun and enjoy, honey," Mrs. Shaw said, after receiving a kiss in the cheek from her daughter.

"We'll try to be home in a couple of hours or three," Frank said.

"You don't have to strain yourselves. Just enjoy," Mr. Shaw said, getting up to walk the two to the door.

* * * 

"And there," Vanessa said, after typing the last of their project. "Anything else missing?"

Joe scanned the book he and Vanessa borrowed from the library for their research. "Hmm… let me see… I guess we got it all." He looked up to Vanessa with a smile. "Can we rest now?"

Vanessa slapped Joe playfully in the leg. "You just had a nap before we started, Joe," she paused and said, "However, since we're finished with the typing and all we need are illustrations…"

Joe's smile got wider. He stood up from his seat and offered a hand to Vanessa, "C'mon. Mom was baking some cookies before we started and…" he sniffed the air and continued, "…I can smell it now."

Standing up from the computer chair, Vanessa giggled and said, "That, I can't resist."

* * * 

"Thank you," Frank said, giving back the menu to the waiter.

He looked at Callie who seemed to be happy and content. He leaned towards the table and reached for Callie's hand, giving it a light squeeze. Callie squeezed back.

"Thanks Frank," Callie said softly, her eyes showing the love and happiness she was feeling.

"It should be me thanking you, Cal," Frank said, staring deep into Callie's brown eyes.

They were just still, staring into each other's eyes. Frank thought, _"Am I so lucky to have her."_ He said softly, "Thanks for the four years."

Callie just gave him a small smile and brushed his hand with her thumb.

Frank continued on thinking, _"What have I done to have such a perfect girl…"_, still staring into Callie's eyes.

"Here are your drinks, sir," the waiter's voice broke the spell and the couple just couldn't help smiling.

The waiter set their drinks down, told them their food is on the way then left.

"About what happened to Joe, do you think it really was just a prank?" Callie asked, picking up her glass and taking up a sip of her iced tea.

Frank grinned, "I didn't know you care that much for my li'l bro," he kidded.

"Yeah, yeah," Callie responded good-naturedly, tucking a strand of her blonde hair behind her ear.

"But seriously, we are hoping it's just a prank," Frank said. He leaned back in his chair and continued, "And I also hope that what I said about those cryptic words are true. That they're probably nothing."

"But deep inside, you have a feeling it can't be nothing," Callie said softly, looking at Frank's face.

Frank smiled as he looked back at Callie, "You really know me too much, don't you?"

"After years of being stuck with you? Of course I can't deny that," Callie said with a smile, while taking Frank's left hand with her right one.

"Mr. Hardy?"

The couple looked up to where the voice came from. The waiter who served their drinks was on his way back to their table.

"Yes?" Frank inquired, noticing that their food wasn't with the waiter yet.

"A message was left for you at the restaurant desk. It said that you had left your car's headlights on, sir," the brown-haired waiter said.

"Oh, thanks," Frank replied, getting up from his seat. He turned back to Callie and said, "I'll just go turn it off, Hon."

"Okay… be careful though," Callie said, unsure of why she suddenly felt worried.

"I will," Frank said before leaving their table and heading outside. He knew from past experiences that something as simple as this could be part of something, probably a trap, _But since we're not on a case or anything, that something could just be nothing_.

When he was only a few feet from the black van, he noticed that the headlights weren't on. Instincts made him stop from walking and hide himself behind another parked car. He checked his surroundings to check if somebody was watching him. He saw nothing, but still, insisted himself to count to 100 before approaching the car, which, he noticed, has a small paper inserted in the windshield.

"…99…100," he muttered, getting up from his hiding place and discreetly neared the van. He put his hand inside his pocket and used his handkerchief in getting the paper. He opened the note and read softly to himself, "Death, revenge, bell, hell."

He felt his spine shiver at the words. Then, he felt like someone was watching him. He was just about to turn around when he heard a soft "Ping!", fell to the ground while feeling a searing pain in his left thigh.

* * *

"Finished?" Laura Hardy asked her son and Vanessa when they approached the kitchen. She moved toward the sink to wash the baking equipment she had used and said, "Vanessa, honey, can you take the cookies out of the oven? You can use the pot holders there"

"No problem, Mrs. Hardy," Vanessa said, moving toward the oven. She took the cookie tray out and put it at the table, which was by the large glass window. "Maybe you can help me place these cookies over the cooling rack, Joe," Vanessa said, removing the potholder from her hands. 

"Sure, Baby," Joe closed the refrigerator and was near to Vanessa when he saw a large bowling ball zoom towards their glass window where Vanessa was standing near. He suddenly threw himself at Vanessa and both were knocked to the floor as the ball broke the glass and zoomed inside. Before he could warn his mother, he heard her scream.


	14. Chapter 13

****

Chapter 13

"Mom!" Joe shouted, not standing up yet in case there were more to come. Right after that, another bowling ball zoomed inside the broken window into their kitchen. "Van, are you all right?!"

"Mm-hmm," Vanessa mumbled, still shocked. "Your mom…"

"I know, I know. Stay here, Van, I'll check on Mom. She might have been hit but don't stand up yet, in case the attacker is still outside," Joe said, kneeling beside Vanessa.

"Attacker? But Joe, it's probably just mistakenly thrown by some kid or something. Instead of the usual baseball, it's probably just some kid," Vanessa said, confused.

"I've thought of that too, but it's better to be safe than sorry," Joe responded. Still kneeling, he took Vanessa's hand and led her to the corner. "Stay here," he said then partially stood up. He could see his mother's figure hiding behind the kitchen counter. "Mom?"

"Joe?" Laura stuck her head out slowly. "Vanessa?"

"She's fine," Joe said, advancing to his mom. "Are you okay? Were you hit?"

"No, honey. I screamed because I… I was surprised and… shocked! Where did those balls come from?" Laura stood up and checked the floor. The first bowling ball had rolled into the corner, amidst the shattered pieces of glass. The other one was only a few feet away from the other.

"I'm just going to check if someone purposely threw those on us, or just some kid mistakenly did, which I doubt," Joe said, peering into the broken window. "Van, you can stand up now."

Vanessa stood up cautiously, checking if she had any cut or bruise. She looked at Joe then at Laura, "Oh! Mrs. Hardy, you have a cut!" She rushed over to Laura who had a cut, bleeding, near her ankle.

"I must have gotten it when the glass shattered," Laura said, limping to the bathroom.

"I'll help you," Vanessa said, accompanying Laura.

Joe, meanwhile, continued on having his lookout by the window. _It couldn't have been some kids. It's pretty dark already. Plus, no kid could throw a bowling ball that strong. And twice? No way._

Joe got a flashlight and headed outside. He looked around the house, but saw nothing. He continued on looking and finally found something near the broken window. He headed back inside to get a pair of thick gloves to get the paper he found among the broken glasses by the window. He put on his gloves and carefully separated the glasses from the plastic-covered paper. After getting it, he went inside.

Laura and Vanessa were already sitting on the couch. Vanessa was placing a bandage over Laura's cut.

"Other than that, were you hurt, Mom?" Joe asked, concerned.

"No, Joe. Don't worry," Laura gave here son a small smile and then noticed the paper he was holding. "What's that?"

"Found it by the window," Joe replied. Still wearing the gloves, Joe opened the folded paper and saw that the small paper has a red leaf design at the lower-right part. "Recognize this, Van?"

"That's… that's the same paper found by your locker!" Vanessa said, surprised. She finished bandaging Laura's cut and rushed to Joe's side. "Don't tell me…?"

"Yes. It does have something written on it also," Joe said, exhaling heavily, looking down on the note. "Put, Out, Turn, Human."

There was silence then…

"Like the other one, the words are computer-typed, same typeface and size," Joe said, sitting on the couch.

"So Frank's wrong… That this could probably be nothing," Vanessa said, crossing her arms, a worried looking on her face.

"I guess so. Could this be part of the prank we're talking about?" Joe asked Vanessa.

"Excuse me, but maybe you can fill me in?" Laura asked, looking from Vanessa to her son.

"When my locker blew up before, Frank found a note, just like this, inside. Covered with plastic and same paper. It also contained some words inside, with the same typeface as this, if I'm not mistaken," Joe told Laura.

"And at first, we all thought it was a group prank by some students but Frank said that it could be just nothing," Vanessa continued. "We thought that he could be right. Maybe someone just wanted to fool us for nothing."

"But I'm doubting that now," Joe said, placing the note back, inside the plastic. "I'll just go keep this in my room. I'll tell Frank about it when he comes back from his date with Cal." He stood up and went up the stairs.

"Want me to call the glass window repair shop, Mrs. Hardy?" Vanessa asked.

"Oh, that's nice of you, Van," the petite mother said. "But wait, I think that's Fenton now."

They heard the sound of a car nearing. Laura pushed aside the curtains of their living room window and peeked outside. "It is Fenton."

The front door opened and Fenton Hardy, an older version of Frank, as many have said, entered the house just as Joe was going down the stairs. 

"Hello, everyone," Fenton, who was wearing his business suit and carrying a small attache case, said.

"Hi there," Laura said, getting up and hugging Fenton.

"What happened?" Fenton asked, seeing Laura's bandage. He placed his arm around his wife's waist, led her back to the couch and sat down.

"Tell him, Joe," Laura said, resting her head on Fenton's shoulder.

Joe filled Fenton in, starting from the note found in his locker to the bowling ball.

"And you found nothing else outside?" Fenton asked, a frown forming.

"Nothing else," Joe replied.

Just then, the phone rang. Vanessa, who was nearest to it, looked at Laura, who nodded, and then she answered the phone.

"Hardy residence," Vanessa said.

Joe, who was deep in thought, was suddenly alerted when he saw Vanessa's face turn pale. He went closer to her and heard her talk back to the caller.

"Slow down… yes… they're here." There was a long pause and then, "Okay, okay. We'll come there right away. Yes, Cal. We'll be there. I know you'll find this hard to do but just stay calm while waiting… Okay," Vanessa hung up the phone and said with a shaking voice, "Frank was hit."


	15. Chapter 14

****

Chapter 14

Callie sat on the empty waiting area of the emergency room, her head resting on the wall. _This date was supposed to be perfect! This was supposed to be our Valentine's date…Oh, Frank, please be all right…_

"Hardy?" 

Callie turned to see a doctor walking towards her. She stood up but the doctor motioned for her to sit again.

"Any relation to Frank Hardy, miss?" the balding but kind-faced doctor asked.

"Uh, um, I'm his girlfriend, doctor. But I already called his family and they said they're on the way and…" Callie's sentence was stopped short when she saw Fenton, Laura and Joe walking fast towards them.

When Joe saw Callie, he ran towards her and asked, "Where's… how's Frank?" His face reflected worry and his troubled blue eyes took on Callie's lavender dress, which had a small red stain. He winced, realizing it must be his brother's blood.

"Are you his…?" the doctor started asking but Fenton cut him off.

"Father," he said, taking up the doctor's hand in a handshake. "His mother and younger brother," he said, gesturing towards Laura and Joe. "I assume you know Callie now," he added. "How's my son?"

"He's okay now. Fortunately, the bullet only grazed his upper left thigh," he said, happy to hear the relieved sighs from the Hardys and Callie.

"So, he can go home now?" Laura asked.

"Yes. I don't see any reason for him to spend the night in the hospital. But he would have to take things easy and avoid straining himself especially his legs," the doctor said. "Anyway, I'm Dr. Smith and you can follow me to see Frank now."

"Where's Van?" Callie asked Joe, while walking up to follow the doctor.

Joe slapped his right hand to his forehead. "Oh, I almost forgot! She dropped us off us soon as we reached the hospital and offered to park the van instead of me doing it," Joe said, turning his head to the entrance door, looking if Vanessa is already there.

"You go see Frank now, I'll wait for her here," Callie said, smiling tiredly.

Joe stopped for a while and asked, "Are you sure it's okay with you?"

"Well, of course I would like to see Frank now, but then… just go, or I'll change my mind!" she said, pushing Joe slightly to follow the doctor.

"Okay. Thanks, Cal!" Joe said, kissed Callie in the cheek and followed his parents to the emergency room.

* * *

Frank was leaning on the head of his bed when he heard footsteps coming on his way. He turned slightly to his right and saw Dr. Smith approaching him. He smiled when he recognized his parents and Joe behind the doctor.

"Frank!" Joe said, walking faster when he saw his older brother. "How are you doing now? We were worried and I thought…" Joe stopped, not able to continue.

"Sorry, Joe. I'm also sorry Dad, Mom. I must have worried you to death and I…" Frank said weakly, but Laura cut him off.

"Oh, honey, you have no reason to be sorry. No reason at all. Of course, we couldn't help being worried when we learned that you were hit but Frank, it's not your fault," Laura assured. Being the protective mother, she went closer to Frank, kissed his forehead and sat on chair near to his bed, holding his hand.

Fenton went on Frank's other side and said, "Don't worry about what happened tonight, son. What's important is that you take your rest after you get out of this hospital," looking at the doctor for his approval.

"Definitely, Frank. I'm trusting you to take a good sleep as soon as you get home," Dr. Smith said.

"Okay, Doc. But Dad," Frank said, looking at his father, "Were the police informed about what happened?" _Please not, please not, _Frank thought. _That would mean I would have to give my statement and all. _

Fenton hesitated. "Well… yes, of course they were."

"And they will surely take my statement, won't they? And Callie's. But Cal doesn't have much to say since I left her at the restaurant," Frank said slowly, suddenly noticing his girlfriend's absence.

"Cal's okay. She's just waiting for Vanessa at the entrance," Joe said, as if reading Frank's mind.

"Okay, thanks for telling, bro. I thought something happened to her!" Frank couldn't help admitting.

"Anyway, about the statement, well… I guess you would have to give it as soon as possible but please, please make sure you're in a comfortable position while giving it. And don't strain yourself or anything," the doctor said strictly.

"I'm assuring you, Dr. Smith, that Frank would be following all your instructions. I myself will see to it," Joe assured the doctor, stealing a side glance at Frank.

* * *

"I'm sorry, sir, but I think I only grazed his leg. I wasn't able to shoot him well. I couldn't take another shot though, since another car, customers of the restaurant I think, was coming and I… I might be seen," a voice stammered into his cell phone.

"Well, we can't do anything now. At least, you got to hurt him. Better than nothing. Now come back here. We'll be finishing our discussion and other plans," the voice from the other line ordered.

"Yes, sir," the call was ended and a car's motor was started, preparing on its way back to the warehouse.


	16. Chapter 15

****

Chapter 15

Marc was lying on the same couch he had been resting on for the past few days, ever since he found his father again. He had always been quiet, so often that his father seems to get worried. Today, he knew that he would have to start to do his part on their plan of revenge to Fenton Hardy. 

__

That girl, he thought, remembering the picture his father gave him. _She really looked like Belle. There's too much similarity between them, it's kinda frightening. _After a few more minutes of thinking over, he called out to his dad, "Hey, Dad?"

Mr. Edwin was talking to someone on the phone and he gestured a "Wait a minute" hand to his son. After a few more words, he ended the call and asked, "What is it, son?"

Marc was silent for a while, then asked, "Remember the picture of the girl that looked so much like Belle that you showed to me the other day ago? Who is she?"

"Oh," Mr. Edwin paused and said, "Yes, her. She's Vanessa Bender. Current girlfriend of Joe Hardy, Fenton's younger son," Mr. Edwin replied, wondering if Marc is now ready to discuss everything.

Marc was just silent, thinking. _What are we supposed to do with her? If I'm not mistaken, Dad said that she's going to have a big part on our plan of revenge. Surely, we won't have to kill her to get even with Belle's death? That's too low._

He heard a door bang and saw Chipz enter the room.

"Where were you last night?" Marc asked. He looked at his watch and saw that it was eight in the morning. "I was looking for you more that twelve hours ago."

"Sorry, pal. I was just doing some orders from your dad here," Chipz said, heading straight for the refreshment table, taking a donut and a can of soda.

"Oh," Marc's face looked thoughtful for a while. He looked at his dad and said, "Maybe we can talk about the whole plan now. I'm ready."

"Are you sure?" Mr. Edwin said, looking dubiously at his son.

"Yeah," Marc sat up and said, "C'mon, explain everything to me now. I don't want you to leave me out of this plan."

Mr. Edwin was just quiet but finally gave up. "All right," he said, standing up from his desk chair and went over to the seat opposite to Marc. Chipz, while still munching on his donut, sat beside Marc.

"Hey, maybe you can start at the beginning of the story, sir," Chipz said through a full mouth. "I know less than Marc does."

"Okay…" Mr. Edwin seemed to be thinking where to start. "Four and a half years ago, I led this plan of exporting illegal drugs from country to country by ship. We were pretty successful. No one caught us for months and we were earning a lot. That was until the shipping company that we hired got suspicious of us and asked Fenton Hardy to investigate. The company didn't contact the police first since they didn't have exact proof whether we really were exporting drugs. They were scared also that if they removed us from their service, we might do something to them." He paused then continued, "One night, while we were transporting the drugs from the warehouse to the ship, Hardy and his back-ups barged into us and messed up our plan."

Mr. Edwin continued, saying, "We definitely weren't expecting them. The police outnumbered us. My men, though, got nervous and took their guns and started to shoot the police. One of them, my men, accidentally shot me in my chest. Good thing though, that it became a habit for me to wear a bulletproof vest over my coat, even if it was bulky, but still looked normal enough and just made me look fatter. Anyway, once I was hit, I purposely set myself to fall into the water so that, one way or another, I could escape from the police and hope the police would think I died."

He cleared his throat, then proceeded, "A few hours before that," he looked at his son, who gave his father a firm nod, "Marc accidentally knew about my plans. He never knew about this scheme of mine…"

"But I always thought about it," Marc interrupted, "I felt it in my guts that something big is going on but never bothered to ask you about it."

His father's face looked remorseful. "I'm sorry son, but I did not plan on involving you into that. Never."

He continued, "That same night, Marc and Belle, like what I said, unbeknownst to my plans, decided to look for me, since they have a party for me at home and they're wondering where I was. Marc searched through my planner, which was very foolish of me to just leave in my desk at home, and saw that my plan for that day was at the 'warehouse'. Naturally, my smart boy here looked through my planner for the address of the warehouse and yes, it was there."

Marc continued, "Belle and I rode on my van and went to the address we found where we think we'll see Dad. When we arrived, there were no policemen yet so we went inside but found Dad at the side of the warehouse, the one near the dock. We were definitely surprised, Belle especially, when we saw what Dad and the others were doing. Dad…," he looked at Mr. Edwin, who continued.

"I explained everything to them as best as I could. I was almost finished when the… the police came," Mr. Edwin said angrily, closing his hands into fists. "Like what I told you earlier, my men panicked and started to use their guns. They managed to hit a couple of officers and me. Good thing I was wearing protection, or else I could have died and hunted those boys who hit me. But then, what they did worked to my advantage. Nobody thought I was still alive, although I learned that Hardy had men ordered to look for my body to certify my death, but the fast speed of the waves convinced his men that my body surely would have drowned but the truth is, it didn't!"

Marc could see that his father was avoiding the worst part of what happened that same night. "Chipz would need to know about Belle, Dad. Or do you want me to explain it?" He stared at his father.

Mr. Edwin, staring back at his son's green eyes with his own emerald ones, finally looked away after a few seconds. "You decide."

"I'll do it," Marc said softly, trying hard not to show the pain and anger he was feeling inside. "When the police came, I tried to protect Belle from everything, especially from the bullet. But I wasn't good enough! I wasn't! She was hit! I was shocked at first. I hid the both of us for some time but I… I realized that she was…" Choked with emotions, Marc cleared his throat then resumed. "She was hit on the head," he said softly.

"Oh, man, I'm so… so sorry," Chipz said quietly.

Marc didn't seem to have heard him and just continued. "I was so angry. At that moment, I had no control on myself. I didn't care who shot her. I just took a gun that was left near us and shot on whatever direction and hit a couple of officers. I was blinded with so much rage," he added, almost whispering.

There was silence for a few moments. 

"I hate to ask this, but is that the reason why you were in jail? You never told me about it whenever I asked," Chipz said. 

Marc gave a curt nod. There was silence again then…

"It's all Hardy's fault," Mr. Edwin said, his voice full of fury. "Belle could still have been alive today, there could still be the business going and you wouldn't have been in jail." He directed his last sentence to his son.

"So what's the plan, Dad?" Marc voiced out, hoping to block the flashbacks of that horrendous night that have become the onset of his nightmares ever since.

"Like what I said, we're going to hurt Fenton in every way. And there's that girl, Vanessa, who'll be very much included in this plan. Poor girl," Mr. Edwin said, looking meaningfully at his son. "Now, here's the whole plan…"


	17. Chapter 16

****

Chapter 16

"Are you sure you'll be fine, Frank? You can miss classes just this day, you know. You probably need more rest," Joe said, as the brothers climbed into their van the next Monday morning. "It was just the other day ago that you were hit and…"

"Hey, you said it yourself Joe. The other day ago. If it was yesterday, then I probably need more rest. And I wasn't hit. The bullet only grazed me, my upper thigh to be exact. So I have no excuse to miss my classes today," Frank said, closing the passenger door. "Just be thankful that I let you drive today," he added with a chuckle.

"Yeah, right," Joe rolled his eyes then said to Frank, "You just did that because you _can't_ drive today so you had no choice but to let me drive."

"Well…"

"See! As always, ladies and gentlemen, Joe Hardy is right, now making Franklin Hardy lost for words!" Joe said, mimicking a sports announcer.

"Joseph, just drive. Or else, we'll be late," Frank said, leaning on his seat.

"You've got no right to call me Joseph and hey, don't change the topic," Joe said. Inside, he was very happy that Frank wasn't seriously hurt from what happened that Saturday. He inserted the key into the ignition and said, "Here we go!"

A few minutes later, the brothers arrived at Bayport High. They went to their lockers to get a few books then proceeded to meet their girlfriends and other chums by the corridor where they usually meet. 

"Hey, Frank!" Chet Morton greeted when he saw the brothers approaching them. "How you doin'?"

"I'm okay now. It still hurts a little when I walk, but generally, I'm fine," Frank said, walking to Callie who immediately asked him the same question.

"Are you sure? Don't you need more rest?" she asked, brushing a few strands of dark hair from Frank's forehead.

"Nah. You're just like Joe," he joked.

"Hey!" Callie punched Frank's arm playfully. "But seriously, are you okay?" she asked. The others looked at him for his response. 

"Uh-huh," Frank replied, touched by the care everyone has for him. "But do you guys mind helping Joe and I? We think there's more to this prank than we know. First, there's the 'explosion' at Joe's locker. Second, someone made an attack on our house and third, somebody tried to shoot me. This is pretty serious now."

"Of course we don't mind. We _want_ to help," Biff Hooper said.

"Why don't we meet later at lunch?" Tony Prito, who was leaning on the wall next to Phil Cohen, asked.

"Fine," Joe said, glad to see the nods from everyone else.

"We better head to class now," Vanessa said, an arm hooked to Joe's. "We don't want to be late."

The group parted and headed to their classes.

Frank and Callie climbed the stairs to their Physics class. Most students hate having Physics class first thing in the morning, except Frank. His teacher, Mr. Davidson, is a good teacher and Frank likes the subject itself so he doesn't mind having them in the morning. _Having them with Callie is the best part of it, though, _Frank thought with a look at his girlfriend.

Reaching their classroom, they found their seats just as the bell rang. Mr. Davidson entered the room and started their lesson by copying down notes. Mr. Davidson usually makes his students copy down notes before discussing the lecture with them.

While copying, Frank's mind was on their new case. _Who wanted to hurt us? It seems like the pranks are on us! Not unless something else happens to the other students, I'm pretty convinced the pranks are targeted on us. Hardys. By whom? Why? _Suddenly, Frank felt like somebody was looking at him. He raised his head and saw Callie looking at him. Callie smiled knowingly then turned back to copying. _She knows I'm thinking about the new case, _Frank chuckled, turning back to his own notes.

"Something funny, Hardy?" he heard somebody say. He knew it wasn't Mr. Davidson since he calls him by his first name. He turned his head again and saw that Jason Moore's attention was on him. Jason, who came to Bayport High just a year ago, wasn't among Frank and Joe's favorite people. He was quite a snob, _smart though, _Frank thought. 

"Nothing, Moore," Frank replied in a quiet tone.

"Hey Hardy, your girlfriend's getting prettier and prettier each day," Jason said in the same tone. "Would you mind if I ask her to accompany me next weekend? I have no one…" he stopped but seemed to be amused at the look Frank suddenly gave him.

"Don't try me, Jason. You'll probably regret it," Frank said quietly, turning back to his notes.

"Gee, I'm scared," Frank heard his seatmate say. He didn't look back at him and just turned his full attention in copying down.

When the bell rang, Mr. Davidson announced, "We'll be discussing those tomorrow."

Frank put his things in his bag and stood up, slinging his backpack in one shoulder. He walked to Callie's chair, waiting for her to finish fixing her things. "Can you help me with these, Frank?" She was trying to carry three thick books that Frank didn't recognize.

"What are these for, Cal?" Frank inquired, taking all three books from her, but Callie took the other one back.

"Just carry two, they're pretty heavy you know," she said, smiling up at Frank. "Anyway, to answer your question, I borrowed these from Mr. Davidson since he's also into Chemistry. They have information on explosive powders. I talked to him about these last week, since I knew, that even though you concluded that the attack on Joe's probably nothing, it's probably lead to a case and we'll need info. So here it is," Callie finished.

"Hey, smart thinking Baby," Frank said, awed by Callie. "You almost know me better than I do," he joked as they walked out into the noisy corridor.

They went to Callie's locker and kept the books there. After that, Frank walked Callie to her next class and couldn't help but be annoyed when he saw that Jason Moore was also on Callie's second class. 

"Oh great," Frank muttered when he saw Jason.

"Why?" Callie asked, looking at him. 

"Nothing. I just saw Moore," he replied, giving back Callie her History book that he had been carrying.

"Oh," she cast a look inside the room then turned back to Frank. "Was he being worse than usual?" She didn't like Jason either. In their group of friends, no one seemed to like the guy either.

"Yeah. But it's not worth mentioning anyway. I'll be going now. I might be late," he kissed her in the cheek and Callie entered the classroom. Before leaving, Frank made sure that Jason's seat was far from Callie's. Satisfied, he left for his own class.

* * *

When the bell rang, indicating lunch, Joe grabbed his backpack and stood up, following the students cramming out of the room. He decided to head toward the school canteen without stopping at his locker. When he saw Vanessa seating alone in a table, he went over her. 

"Hey," Joe said, giving Vanessa a quick kiss. "Where are the others?"

"Haven't seen them yet. I assumed they're still on their lockers so I reserved this table for us. Oh, there they are now," she added, seeing Frank and Callie heading toward their table.

"Chet and Tony will be a little late," Frank said, sitting down. "They have to borrow a book from the library."

"Chet and Tony?" Vanessa asked, raising an eyebrow. "Are you sure you didn't ask them to get the book for you? It's seems unusual their priorities, especially Chet's, are on the book, not on lunch."

Joe and Callie chuckled at her comment, while Frank blushed a little.

Vanessa chuckled herself. "Just kidding, Frank. Oh, Biff and Phil are heading this way now," pointing.

"You guys buy your lunches now," Frank said. "I'll stay here and wait for Chet and Tony."

"Want me to buy your lunch?" Callie offered.

"Nope. Thanks anyway. Mom prepared two sandwiches for me. But maybe you can buy me Coke or something?" Frank asked.

"Okay. Nothing else?" Callie asked back.

Frank thought for a second then said, "If the fries look decent enough today, I'll have them also."

Callie grinned, "Okay."

Joe, who also had the same lunch as Frank's, sat beside his brother. "So, what about the case?"

Frank unwrapped his sandwich and said, "Let me ask you something first. Are you thinking that the 'pranks' are only on us? I mean, our family, as usual."

"I kinda noticed that too. There weren't any attacks on the students, only on us. Except if there are more to come… well, we don't know yet," Joe answered, munching on his sandwich. "Hey, this tastes great."

"Mom made it so what do you expect? But anyway," Frank continued, "Supposedly those are for us. Do we have enemies?"

He and Joe looked at each other for a while and cracked up. 

"Okay, okay. I know. We have _lots_ of enemies!" Frank admitted, blushing slightly. "I guess I didn't realize what I'm asking."

"Don't feel too bad Frank," Joe comforted. "To continue what you were saying a while ago, supposedly these pranks are for us. Who could be doing these? And why?"

"Is it somebody from here in school?" Frank thought out loud.

"Most probably. But still, they can be from the outside too, since our house was attacked," Joe answered.

"Here's your Coke, and fries," Callie said, once she and the others arrived at the table. She handed the can of Coke to Frank and the container of fries with her other hand. "Do they look decent enough for you?" she asked, grinning.

"Well… not that bad. Better than usual," he answered, grinning back.

"Sorry we're late," Chet and Tony reached the table, panting. They pulled their chairs from the nearby table then put down their bags and books. 

"We'll just buy our lunches," Tony said before the two rushed off.

Vanessa raised an eyebrow, "Hey that was fast. For Chet, that is."

The others chuckled. 

"Well… Chet's hungry!" Joe quipped.

"Back to the case," Frank started after another round of chuckles. "Joe and I were thinking whether who could be doing this pranks. Maybe here from school? Or the outside?"

The others were silent, each one thinking in their own thoughts.

"What if it's from here in school? What if we start that way?" Callie suggested.

"Good idea, Cal," Joe said, smiling at Callie.

"All of my ideas are good, Hardy," she joked.

"Anyway, who here in school, do you think, wants to hurt you guys?" Phil asked, biting on his burger.

"Well, I told Mr. S before that it's probably the boyfriends of the girls that you know…" Joe said, casting a side glance at Vanessa.

"Hey, what can I do if my boyfriend is fussed over by other girls?" Vanessa kidded.

"Well, yeah," Joe replied with a grin.

"But would they go far enough like attacking your house? With a bowling ball?" Chet asked, sitting down on an empty seat while balancing his tray. Tony took the seat beside Phil.

"Were we talking that loud?" Biff asked Chet.

Chet unwrapped his burger, "Not really."

"But we have to be careful, guys," Frank said with a worried look. "If it really is somebody from school…"

"We get it Frank. Don't worry," Tony said, then looked straightly at Chet. "You heard that, Morton."

"Hey! What about me?" the large boy asked, while the others laughed.

"Just watch what you're saying or how loud your voice is, okay? We know you don't mean to spill a few beans sometimes," Vanessa soothed.

"But you guys still trust me, don't you?" a dubious-looking Chet asked.

"Of course!" Frank said, surprised to hear such a question from his friend.

"Better hurry up eating people," Phil announced, looking at his watch. "Lunchtime will be over in, like, ten minutes."

Ensuing what Phil said, the bell rang ten minutes later.

"Are we still going to meet at dismissal?" Biff asked as they stood up.

"I guess not. We don't have much to go on, anyway. Joe and I will be looking on those notes though and we'll just call you guys for help," Frank answered, putting his arm around Callie's shoulders. He saw Jason Moore eyeing Callie a few minutes ago but Frank was happy when he realized that his own class would be beside Callie's classroom.

"Okay. See ya guys!" Chet said, starting to walk toward his next class.

* * *

When dismissal came, Frank, Joe, Callie and Vanessa walked into the parking lot.

"Oh Cal, I forgot! Remember the last time when I slept at your place? I forgot my jeans at your room," Vanessa said, as they reached Callie's car.

"Oh, okay… I'll just bring it next time," Callie assured. She opened the driver's door and placed her bag inside. "See you tomorrow guys! Call me later?" she asked Frank.

"As always," Frank responded, smiling. He kissed Callie then closed the door as she got inside. Before starting the car, though, Callie opened her car door again.

"I forgot my Physics notebook in my locker. Mr. Davidson told us we will be having our discussion tomorrow, right? It wouldn't hurt to have an early reading," Callie said, answering Frank's unspoken question. "You guys don't have to wait for me."

"Okay," Frank replied hesitantly then headed for the van.

When the boys reached their house, they saw that their parent's car wasn't there.

"Did they mention going somewhere?" Joe asked as he pulled on a stop on their driveway.

"Nope," Frank replied, removing his seatbelt. "Maybe they left a note inside."

When they entered the kitchen, they saw Laura's note for them.

****

Your father and I just went out for the afternoon. I baked some brownies as your snack. –Mom

"Goodie," Joe said, taking a brownie from the table. Frank took another, biting into it as he climbed the stairs. "Don't eat all of it, okay?!"

Joe just murmured in response as he got another one. Then the phone rang.

"I'll take it!" he heard Frank from upstairs.

Joe just shrugged as he took a glass from their cabinet but was startled when he suddenly heard his brother's rapid footsteps as he went downstairs.

"That was Callie," he explained snatching up the car keys. "She… she said her car brakes weren't working!"


	18. Chapter 17

****

Chapter 17

"What?! Hey, wait, I'm coming!" Joe shouted, grabbing his coat. He hadn't even closed the passenger door of the van when Frank sped off. As they drove in silence, Joe couldn't help noticing that his brother was driving as fast as the law could allow him. _Can't blame him though,_ he thought.

"Where did she say she was?" Joe asked, hoping to relax Frank a little. He wasn't met by the result he was hoping for though.

"The curve by the bay! Gosh, she could have fallen over the cliff!" Frank cried out.

"Relax. She was able to call you, okay? So that means she's, more or less fine," Joe comforted.

"But, Joe, her voice was shaking," Frank said, worry painted on his face. 

Suddenly, relief took over when he saw Callie's car. "Here we are."

Turning left by the curve, they saw Callie's car parked on the side, a police car parked behind.

"Cal!" Frank ran to her, give her a tight embrace before checking her out. "Are you okay? Were you hurt? Did you bump your head or anything? Were you wearing your seatbelt?"

"I think so. No. No. Yes," Callie said, giving Frank a pale smile as she leaned on him. "But, boy, it's my first time to drive like that and I learned that it's so much different when you're the driver instead of just a passenger," she rushed on saying, referring to the past experiences she had when the boys' van's brake lines where cut off.

Turning, Frank realized that it was Con Riley, their friend in the police station, that was beside them. "Hey Con, I didn't notice you."

"You rushed to Callie so fast, if not for your black van, I wouldn't have recognized you myself," he said, smiling. "Maybe you can follow me to the station? This could be another deliberate attack connected to what happened to Frank last Saturday," he told Callie.

Callie turned to Frank, "Would you mind coming with me?"

"Of course not. But we'll call the tow truck and have your baby repaired," Frank replied referring to Callie's car. Then looked at Joe with a silent message. _Too bad I can't do the pleading puppy dog eyes Joe shows off when asking for a favor,_ Frank thought.

"You mean you want me to stay here and wait for the tow truck to come?" Joe asked. He feigned being sick and clutched his stomach with one hand, the other on his head then said, "Uh, Frank, oh, I feel sick. Oh, Frank, I… I feel like I want to… sit down. I think I'm gonna pass out. Oh…"

Frank rolled his eyes and said, "C'mon Joe, please? I hardly ask you of any favor while you, you don't even let a day pass without asking me for one. So c'mon," while Con and Callie laughed at Joe's acting, despite the situation.

"You owe me big time for this one, bro!" Joe said, grinning. 

"I don't owe you for this one Joe," Frank said with a sly grin. "Callie does."

"Hey! Why me?!" Callie said, hands on her hips.

"All right _children_," Con said, taking over. "You'll wait here, Joe?"

"As if I have a choice," he replied with a shrug, but after Frank gave him a Look, he added, "Yeah, I'll wait for the tow truck here. Where are you going?" he suddenly asked as Frank suddenly walked to the van.

"I'll use the phone in our car to call the truck," he replied over his shoulder.

"What are you doing here, anyway, Con? Callie didn't call you to come over here, did you?" Joe asked, turning his last question to the girl.

"Nope. I just ended my call to Frank when Con passed by," she responded.

"I was on my way back to the station," Con explained. "Chief asked me to deliver a few papers."

"Asked you? Or ordered you?" Joe inquired with a raised eyebrow. Chief Collig was known as a bossy Chief, not the type to ask for favors but order them. _Well, he's the chief, anyway,_ as Joe always thought.

"Asked me. Surprising, eh? He told me he doesn't trust anyone else with those papers," he said, shrugging.

"They're on the way." Frank walked back to them. "This is like the time when we first we met Van. Right, Joe?

"Yup," he answered, smiling at the memory.

"Here are my keys, Joe," Callie said, handing the keys.

"We'll just meet you at the repair shop," Frank added to Joe. "Do you need anything else from the van?"

"Yeah," Joe said, walking toward the passenger seat of the van. He opened the compartment, got a pair of gloves that the brothers usually kept on the van in case of unexpected situations like this. He put them in his coat's pocket then let Callie get inside before closing back the door.

"I'll just see if there's another note," he whispered to Frank who nodded.

After the van left, Joe removed his coat and put it inside Callie's car. Then he went to see the brake lines of the car.

"I knew it," he muttered to himself when he saw a small paper taped to the slashed brake line. Wearing the gloves, he was able to remove the paper and remove himself from the inferior of the car. Opening the note, he read the four words written inside.

* * *

"What do you think, Frank?" Joe asked when they reached the driveway of their house after driving Callie to her house.

"The brake lines could have been slashed by someone from school _or_ the outside," Frank answered with a frown. "Like what we first thought. But you know what?"

"What? Oh wait, I think I do. You're probably thinking that everything that happened isn't part of a school prank," Joe replied, climbing out of the passenger seat. Then he added soberly, "It looks like that we are the target."

"Exactly," Frank acquiesced as they reached their front door. "That means the two of us, Callie, Vanessa, Dad, Mom, Chet and the others and everyone else we're close to which means this is probably a …."

"Revenge," Joe said. "Now, we can start looking for-"

"Joe, honey, Vanessa's on the phone," Laura said, when the boys entered their house. "What happened Frank? The two of you seemed to have left in a hurry," gesturing towards the note Frank left.

While Frank filled his Mom on what happened, Joe was having his conversation with Vanessa on the phone. After a few minutes, he placed the phone down and with a serious face, he turned to his mother and Frank.

"Frank, forget that 'Revenge' thing we thought a while ago," he said. "That was Vanessa on the phone and she said that Gywneth Rayner is at the hospital due to a car accident."

A/N: Sorry it took a long time before I updated the story. Please review.


	19. Chapter 18

****

Chapter 18

"Gywneth? Noah Colsen's girlfriend?" Frank asked. Noah, like Frank and Joe, was one of the players in the baseball team at Bayport High. Frank's not very close to the guy but they talk every now and then, since Noah was one of the nice guys in the team.

"Yup and Van's partner in the laboratory," Joe informed. "Van called her right after she realized that she forgot to return a book of Gwyneth's. But the housekeeper of the Rayner's answered the phone and told Vanessa what happened."

"Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" Frank asked Joe.

"If you think that Gwyneth's brake lines are slashed and there's probably a note attached, then yes," he answered with a sober expression. He picked up the phone and dialed. 

"Poor girl," Laura said softly just as Fenton entered the living room. 

Seeing everyone's face, he asked, "What happened? Was there another attack?" and Laura filled him in.

"Are you calling the police?" Frank asked, walking closer to Joe.

"Yeah. I hope Con's there now and he's heard – Hello?" he asked. "Can I talk to Officer Riley please?" There was silence then, "Joe Hardy."

"Wait a minute," came the answer to the young detective.

"Hey Joe?" Riley's voice came.

"Yeah, I'm here Con. Listen, have you heard about the other car accident that took place? To Gywneth Rayner?"

"Yes. That was the first thing Chief told me when I came here," the officer answered.

"Where's the car now?" Joe asked.

"Here in the police station's parking lot. A tow truck was called. Joe, I know what you're gonna ask next."

"Oh yeah?"

"The car's brake lines were also tampered with! Like Callie's!"

"I was sort of expecting that actually," Joe said with a grim smile.

"Uh-huh? I can think of two reasons for that. One- you and Frank are on the case. Two- you're the one behind everything," Con joked, hoping to lighten things a little. "You can't go and visit Rayner as of now. Visitor's hours will be soon over and I doubt if Laura will let you out. It's almost supper time, you know."

"Yeah, we figured that out. But can you do us a favor?" Joe asked.

"Now it's my time to say I was also expecting that," Con said lightly. "Shoot."

"Can we come over there after supper time? We just want to check out the car," Joe said.

"Will Laura let you?" came the amused reply.

"Well, I suppose so, if Frank and I will eat our dinner like good boys," Joe said. "Or maybe…"

"What?" Con asked warily.

"Maybe you could talk to Mom now and tell her to let us go there now or later?" Joe asked hopefully.

"No way!" Con exclaimed.

"Please? Please Con?"

"No, Joseph," the officer answered flatly.

"I'm letting you check the car out but it's up to Laura to let you out," then added, "You've gone out of the house already after school. You haven't done your homework, haven't eaten your dinner, haven't…"

"Okay! Okay! But you'll let us in the car okay?" he asked again.

"I guess so. Chief left already and will be back tomorrow morning. If you can see the car without the noticing of the other officers left here, then fine."

"Thanks Con. See you later, I hope," Joe finished, glancing at Laura.

"What did he say?" Frank asked as soon as Joe put the phone down.

"Brakes were slashed," he said, informing his parents as well. "And I also asked him if we could go to the station to check the car for clues…" looking at Laura with his puppy dog eyes.

His mother raised an eyebrow. "It's almost suppertime."

"Well, yeah Mom, but maybe…" Joe said, looking at Frank for help.

"How about after supper, Mom?" Frank asked.

"You haven't done your homeworks since you left right away when you received that call from Callie," she pointed out.

"We'll do it as soon as we get home," Frank promised while Joe begged with his father for help silently.

"Laura, the boys won't be long," Fenton joined in. "Right boys?"

"Right," they chorused.

Laura was just silent. But she thought, _Of course I'm going to let my boys out. It's just so sweet of them to still ask permission from me_. Then she smiled.

"Of course, I am letting you. But be back early, okay?" she asked worriedly.

"Of course Mom," Joe said, kissing her in the cheek.

"Thanks Mom," Frank said with a hug. "We'll just clean up before having our dinner," eyeing Joe dirty clothes, since he went under Callie's car.

* * *

"Just make sure nobody, as in no one, will see you okay?" Con said, leading the two boys into the dark parking spot near the police station where he parked the van of Gwyneth Rayner. "I moved it here a while ago to make sure you're not seen."

"Did the police check the brake lines?" Frank asked Con, as he lowered himself underneath the black van, which looked like the Hardy's van.

"Yeah, and they didn't find anything. Now, whatever you see there, tell me okay? But in the meantime, I'll be going back inside before the other officers notice that I'm out here," Con said then discreetly walked back to the brick building.

"I'll go down and see the brake lines," Frank volunteered. After getting down, "Hand me the flashlight, Joe," Frank's muffled voice came from beneath the car.

"Here."

After a few seconds, Joe asked, "See anything?"

"Nothing, yet," the older Hardy answered.

After another few moments, Frank gave up. "Nothing!" he whispered to Joe.

Joe looked stunned. "You mean, this isn't part of the sabotage that has been happening?"

"Uh-uh. We don't know for now. Let's see the other parts of the car for more clues."

The brothers looked around the car, including inside of it, using the car keys Con Riley supplied them with.

"You check here Frank. I'll just go check something else outside," Joe said as his brother rummaged through the inside of the van.

Frank looked around every possible place for anything that would look like evidence. After a few minutes of searching, he heard Joe outside.

"I can't believe the police didn't see this," Joe said unbelievingly.

"What is it?" Frank asked, turning his head to see Joe, crouched down near the front left tire of the van, holding a piece of paper inside a small clear plastic. _Oh no,_ he thought. _I guess this is still part of the sabotage._

"Don't tell me you saw it in the tire?" the older Hardy asked, a bewildered look on his face.

"Yeah," Joe responded, standing up. "Chet did this to our old sedan once. He taped a, a letter to our tire…" He looked at his brother, as if waiting for him to remember something.

"Oh!" Frank suddenly remembered what his brother was talking about. "Iola's letter."

"Yeah…" was all Joe could reply as they started to close the door of the van and pick up their tools.

"Let's go back to Con Riley and return these keys," Frank said quietly.

"Okay," the suddenly quiet Joe answered.

They walked into the red brick building of the Bayport Police Station, heading to Con Riley's desk.

"Here's the keys Con," Frank whispered as to avoid perking up the interest of the other officers in the room.

"Saw anything?" Con asked, but he knew that if the boys did find anything, they wouldn't tell him about it.

"Nothing," Frank answered, knowing their friend knows that he is lying.

"Whatever you say," Con answered back. "Good luck in your case. Now, go home before Laura gets worried." He looked at Joe who was just quiet, standing beside his brother.

"Yeah. Thanks officer. Good night," Frank said.

"I'll drive," Frank told Joe as they were nearing their black van, which looked very familiar to the van they searched a while ago.

As Frank drove, Joe was trapped in his own thoughts.

__

"I have a letter for you, but you have to use all the detective skills you have in order to find it," Iola said over the phone.

"I'm pretty sure I'll be finding it in no time," Joe joked.

"Oh yeah? Let's see that!" Iola challenged, trying to stifle her giggling. 

After a few days, during their lunchtime at school…

"So, have you found it, honey?" Iola asked Joe with a small smile.

"Well…"

"See?? I told you! You'll be having a hard time looking for that!" Iola said, laughing, her pixie-like face blooming with happiness.

"Uh, guys, I forgot something in my locker," Chet suddenly said. "I'll go get it, " he added, then left.

That afternoon…

"See you tomorrow guys!" Frank called to the Mortons as they were about to leave the school parking lot.

"Hey Frank, wait!" Joe said as he was about to climb into the passenger seat of their sedan. He saw something white in the tire of their van so he crouched down and looked at it. "Hey! What is this? Got some tissue or cloth there, Frank?"

Frank took a rag under the driver's seat and gave it to his brother, who used the rag to remove some of the dirt that hid a small plastic taped tightly to the tire. Then he pried off the plastic from the tire and saw a folded paper inside. Joe's eyes widened as he realized that that was probably Iola's letter.

"We're here Joe." Joe heard his brother, breaking his thoughts. "You okay?"

"Uh-huh," Joe unfastened his seatbelt and climbed out of the van.

"The letter, huh?" Frank asked softly as they walked to their front door.

"Nah. We know it was Iola's last letter for me before she, you know…" Shaking his head, "I have Vanessa now anyway…" came Joe's reply as they entered their house.

__

But I know you're still hurt by the memory Joe, Frank thought as he watched his brother greet their mother.

A/N: I hope you liked this chapter even without a cliffhanger. J 


	20. Chapter 19

****

Chapter 19

"…didn't wear her seatbelt that time, she probably could have been thrown out of the car!"

"… Colsen went to visit her once he learned what happened to his Gwyneth and…"

"… quite a lot of accidents, don't you think? There's Hardy, the younger one, then there's also the elder Hardy, then Shaw and now Gywneth…"

"…maybe they could call off classes for a while to avoid these accidents since most of them happened here and maybe we could avoid those exams coming up…"

"… what happened to Gwyneth?"

Frank, Callie, Joe and Vanessa were walking along the corridor the next morning and hearing everybody talk at the same time about what recently happened. News spread already as to what happened to Callie and Gywneth Rayson the day before and now the corridors buzzed with conversations of the informed informing the students that were still unaware of what took place.

"Have you seen Noah, Frank?" Joe asked his brother and looked at Vanessa and Callie to emphasize that he's also asking them.

"I don't think he's here today," Callie said with a worried look. "He and Gwyneth usually hangs out by his or her locker every morning and I don't think I've seen him."

"I saw his brother, Josh, a while ago, but I wasn't able to talk with him because quite a lot of students were trying to talk to him," Vanessa added.

"I don't want to say this but maybe Gwyneth's badly injured that Noah couldn't get himself to attend classes today. I have three subjects with him and I don't think I've seen him absent from one class ever since this school year began," Frank said but his eyes were still searching for any sign of his mate in the baseball team.

"Let's head to our classes now since it's almost time," Joe said a few minutes later after a useless search for Noah. "Maybe we can talk to Josh at lunch. I'll ask him if he can join us for lunch, since if I'm not mistaken, his room is near mine before lunch."

They agreed and headed to their respective rooms. Frank was taking up the stairs when he heard and saw someone take up the stairs near him. _Uh-oh, _he thought.

"What?" he asked to the tall boy beside him who was wearing a rather goofy grin. 

"Good morning to you Hardy!" Jason Moore said. "How's Callie? I heard she was in a 'sort of' accident yesterday? You're not taking care of her," he said, talking like a father scolding a little child.

"She's fine," Frank said, continuing up the stairs until they reached the second floor. "Sorry Moore, I gotta go now."

"We're having classes together, you know," the sandy-haired boy reminded Frank who thought, _What a great start to the morning…_

* * *

"And don't forget to bring your own periodic table tomorrow, okay?" Ms. Ryan's voice was heard over the bell. The petite, blonde teacher was only answered by the sudden buzz that started among the students as they got up to leave the room. Joe Hardy searched for Josh Colsen among the crowd and found him near the door three rooms away from Ms. Ryan's lesson room, making his way out. He waited for him to get nearer then approached him.

"Hey Josh!" he said once he was beside the younger Colsen. The sophomore looked at him and said, "Yeah?"

"I'm Joe-"

"Hardy?" came the quite annoyed answer of Josh. "Sorry, I don't mean to snap but it's just that just yesterday, I was a normal guy undisturbed by other students and I haven't made my second step in the corridor this morning when a number of students suddenly bombarded me with questions."

"Oh, sorry about that. I kind of understand how you're feeling," Joe said as the two walked to the direction of the canteen.

"You probably do, since you're one of the most famous students around," Josh said with a chuckle.

"I didn't know about that!" Joe joked back. "Hey, maybe you can join us-"

"-for lunch?" Josh cut off again with a sheepish smile. "I have to ask my 'special friend' first if she won't mind."

"Special friend huh? Well, okay, but we probably won't mind inviting her over to our table also," Joe added.

"I guess. But she might feel shy, you're group consists of juniors and seniors, right?"

"Well, yeah."

"I'll tell her. But honestly you know, she probably would be jumping for joy if she learns that we're having lunch with you guys, especially your brother," Josh said, rolling his eyes.

As they entered the canteen, Joe guessed, "No offense to you, but she has a crush on Frank?"

Josh looked at him in surprise. "Oh, no no." Then he chuckled. "Actually, she's among the top five students among the sophomores and she'll probably be thrilled to ask Frank for advice and the like."

"Ah, okay. Why don't you ask her now and we'll be just over there. You know where are usual table is, don't you?" Joe asked, raising his voice so that he could be heard over the noise in the school canteen.

"Yeah. I just have to look for the noisiest one," Josh kidded before walking off.

Joe headed to their usual table where the others were already seated. He took the vacant seat between Vanessa and Biff. He tapped Biff on the shoulder and said, "Let's pull another table. I invited Josh Colsen and his girlfriend to have lunch with us since we want to ask a few questions. Our table's too crowded to have another couple of chairs."

As he and Biff pulled a vacant table and placed it beside their own one, Josh and a petite girl walked towards them, both carrying their tray. "Are you sure you guys don't mind having us here?" Josh questioned.

"It's okay. We just need to ask you a few questions anyway so why don't we do it over lunch?" Joe replied as he pulled a couple of vacant seats from another table. He placed them between Frank and Chet. "There. You guys can seat now."

"Guys, this is Josh Colsen, Noah's younger brother and his girlfriend…" Joe introduced and waited for Josh to continue.

"Dinah Roberts," Josh said while the auburn-haired girl gave a warm smile.

"We just want to ask if Noah told you anything about what happened to Gwyneth," Frank started as he picked up his burger. He and Joe decided not to tell Josh about what they found in the van the night before.

"I'll tell you everything Noah told me last night when he came from the hospital. He said that he walked Gwyneth to the van, which is Gwyneth's temporary car for a while since her brother borrowed her Mustang. They actually went to your van," Josh said to the Hardys then proceeded, "they thought it was her car. So anyway, since Noah's car was parked a few cars away from your van, Gwyneth told Noah not to walk her to her van since his car's nearer now. Then half an hour after Noah got home, Mrs. Rayson called him right away, telling him that a police officer called the Rayson's house to tell them about the accident." Josh bit into his sandwich after he finished his speech.

"So Noah didn't see Gwyneth's van…" Vanessa said thoughtfully.

"So naturally, he wasn't able to see if something was wrong with the van or anything," Joe added.

"Right," Josh agreed.

"How's Gwyneth?" Callie asked.

"I don't know how you survived your accident Callie, but thank God you did. Anyway, Gwyneth just learned driving a few months ago and maybe that's why she wasn't able to prevent herself from crashing into three posts and, what was that Noah said?, oh, the railing somewhere along the road. Gwyneth's kind of nervous when driving and I guess she freaked out when the brake wasn't working," Josh went on.

There was a moment of silence then…

"Noah didn't go to school today, did he?" Chet asked.

"No. He felt so bad about what happened to Gywnie, I doubt he'll be able to pay attention to his classes," Josh answered grimly.

"Anything else Josh? Anything Noah could have said?" Frank asked hopefully.

"Sorry guys, nothing else," Josh answered with a sad smile.

"Oh, okay. Thanks anyway, Josh and Dinah for joining us here," Joe said, fiddling with his fries. "Let's stop the interrogation here shall we, and just enjoy our lunch," then gave Dinah an encouraging smile. Josh caught it and talked softly to her. Then Dinah turned to Frank with a smile and they launched into a quiet conversation.

A few minutes later, they decided to finish up and head to their classes.

* * *

"I can't wait anymore," he said, pacing the floor of the office. "I want her with me right now. As in right now!"

"Woah! Easy man. It's not time yet," another one, seated on the couch, answered.

"Stop that! You just don't know how I'm feeling! Tell Dad, tell him that I want her abducted, as soon as possible, probably today. I mean it!"

"What?! You're crazy!"

The first man glared at his chubby friend.

"Okay, okay. I get the message. I'll go tell your father now, okay?" he rose from his seat and left.


	21. Chapter 20

****

Chapter 20

"What do you think they'll do next?" Joe asked his brother as they made their way to the van. Callie and Vanessa were with them. Callie will be riding with the Hardys on the way home.

"I don't know but I've decided on one thing. Let's put our school works aside for this day and solve this case. Let's take a look at all the notes we've gotten and figure out what it means. We can't risk to have another attack!" Frank responded with a bothered look. He was distressed, since their house, his brother, he himself, his girlfriend and a schoolmate was now attacked and they still have no idea who is behind everything.

They reached their van and beside it was Vanessa's red sedan. "Make sure you have your brakes okay, Van," Joe said. "We're not taking any chances now."

"I know," was all his girlfriend replied as she opened the door of the driver's side and went inside. She turned on the ignition and tried the brakes. "It's okay, Joe."

"Sure?" came the apprehended reply of Joe Hardy.

Vanessa tried it again and gave a thumbs-up. She leaned over her open window while Joe went down to kiss her. "BE careful, okay?"

"I'm always careful," Vanessa gave him a wink but then added seriously, "I'll be fine, Joe. Don't worry. I'll call you right away when I get home."

"Okay. Bye," Joe said quietly. Callie and Frank both threw their "See ya tomorrow" and "Be careful" to Vanessa then she drove off.

Frank started the car while Callie climbed to the passenger's seat which left Joe to occupy the back seat. They drove in silence, each on their own thoughts, marveling how they could find the aggressor and the incentive covering him or her.

* * *

Vanessa drove with an average speed, Joe and Frank's precaution ringing in her mind. _I hope this attacks will stop now without anybody else getting hurt. _Gwyneth was one of her good friends in school aside from being her laboratory partner. _What's her connection to the attacks? Is this a school prank? Or just another revenge to the Hardys? _ The latter thought brought a chill down her spine. _I don't want to have my Joe hurt. He had too much, and so did Frank. Oh God, help us, especially them, in finishing this case. _She sighed, _I hope Gwyneth's fine._ Then a thought struck her. _Why don't I visit Gwyneth in the hospital?_

She pulled over and reached over to open her hazard lights. She reached for her cellphone and dialed Joe's number. _In case their not home yet, _she decided. "Honey, hi," she said when Joe answered the call.

"Van, got any problems? Where are you?" came Joe's hurried questions.

"No, no." Vanessa couldn't help but smile, touched once again over her boyfriend's concern. "Actually, I'm halfway from the house and I just thought, I'll visit Gwyneth today. Before I go home," she added. "Is it okay for you? I'll just be quick. I'll just see how she is, if she's awake then I'll ask her if she noticed anything important and the like."

"I don't know Van… What if someone's following you?"

"I've been watching my rearview mirror and so far, no one's following me. Please Joe, I just want to see Gwyneth…"

There was silence before Joe responded again. "Want me to come with you?" 

"No need, baby. I believe you're at home now?" Vanessa guessed.

"Almost but I wouldn't mind-"

"You guys just look over those notes now like you agreed on a while ago. I'll be fine," Vanessa said softly.

"Okay, okay. I guess it's okay… But Van, please, please, be careful baby," Joe pleaded.

"Of course I will be, Joe. Don't worry. I'll call you when I reach the hospital, before leaving the hospital and when I get home okay?" Vanessa assured.

"Okay then. I love you," Joe said and from how Joe said it, Vanessa could feel Joe's worry.

"I love you too. I'll be careful," she replied back with the same soft then ended the call.

Vanessa checked her rearview mirror and saw no car behind her so she maneuvered the car and drove toward the hospital where Josh mentioned Gwyneth was confined.

She reached the hospital but groaned when she saw that there were quite a lot of cars parked near the entrance where she was hoping to pull her car over. She had no choice but to park a few meters away from the entrance. She turned off the ignition, reached for her purse and cellphone, opened the car and stepped out. She had locked the door of her car when she felt an arm go over her head and close over her mouth. _Oh no! _crossed her mind when she sniffed the sickeningly sweet smell of chloroform before darkness closed over her.

* * *

"Let's go over the clues now, Joe," Frank said as soon as they finished their snack. "Joe?"

Joe turned his head to Frank. "Huh?"

"I said, let's see the notes now, shall we?" Frank repeated, looking closely at his brother's face. "You okay? Is it Vanessa?"

"Yeah. Ever since she said that she'll go over to the hospital, I'm so worried," Joe admitted, then leaned on the kitchen chair. "How come she's not yet calling?"

"She probably forgot?" Frank tried.

Joe looked wearily at his brother, "Frank, we both know that Van's not that careless."

"I know," Frank admitted, then exhaled heavily. "Why don't I call her cellphone for you?"

"Nah. I'll do it." Joe got up and lifted their phone's receiver then dialed Vanessa's cell number, which he knew by heart. There was a ring and another ring and another…

"Frank, she's not answering it!" Joe said, frustrated. He put the receiver down and went to his brother. "What do you think?" he asked.

Frank thought for a while. "Hmm… Why don't you call Andrea?"

Joe complied then came back with a look. Frank needed no explanation since the look on Joe's face was enough. Suddenly, the phone rang and Joe went to answer it immediately.

"Van?" he said right away.

"No Joe, it's Andrea. Listen, I forgot to tell you but I asked Vanessa to buy me a new flashlight on her way home. I told her that before she left for school this morning. Maybe that's what's taking her long," Mrs. Bender said.

"Oh… okay. Um, Andrea, if Vanessa calls there or anything, call back here, please?" Joe asked, his mind filled with nothing but worry. 

"Of course, honey," Andrea replied, knowing how Joe was feeling at that moment. She, herself, knew of the attacks after Vanessa told her about them and she's worried about her daughter herself.

"Thanks." Joe ended the conversation. "I'm giving Van fifteen minutes. If she hasn't called by then, we'll go to the hospital, okay?" he asked his brother.

"Of course. Now, let's get going," Frank took the first note out of his bag. He was happy with himself that he decided to keep the first note found in Joe's locker. "Now it says, Born, Torn, Sorrow, Bare."

There was silence for a while then…

"Wait a minute Frank… why don't we consider the victims first? Me, our house, you, Callie and Gwyneth. Everything's connected, aside from Gwyneth. Actually, she's the reason why we dropped the revenge thing, right?"

"Right," the elder Hardy agreed.

"So… what could be her connection?!" Joe asked, resting his head on his hands. "What could be… what could be it…?" _And why is Vanessa not calling yet?! Surely, she's reached the hospital now…And what about Gwyneth? What's her connection? Wait a minute, Josh said something…something about the van! That's it! Gwyneth's van is… _he looked up and his sapphire eyes locked with his brother's dark ones.

"Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" Joe asked slowly.

Frank didn't remove his eyes from Joe's. "I think so… that is if you're thinking about…"

"The coincidence of Gwyneth's van looking similar with ours?" the younger Hardy continued. There was silence then…

"Frank! What if, what if the attacker had mistaken Gwyneth's van as ours? Then that means he's after us! Oh no! Oh no!" Joe suddenly paled in thought, remembering Vanessa.

Then they both froze when another realization took over them.

"So that would mean that this is no school prank! It's not what it is! Oh, Joe. I think we're right now. There's the connection! This is all about revenge! Revenge to us, to Callie, to our family and who knows who else, close to us, is in danger?!" The second those words were out of Frank's mouth, there was a tense silence. Then, Joe stood up suddenly and dashed towards the door. 

"That means Vanessa is in danger!" 


	22. Chapter 21

****

Chapter 21

Vanessa Bender opened her eyes slowly and nothing but darkness met her eyes. _Where am I? What happened?_ She tried to move herself, only to find out that her hands were tied at the handrails of the loveseat she was seating on.

"I see that you're finally awake."

Vanessa was startled to hear a voice. She heard a click and was suddenly blinded by the sudden opening of a light above her. She looked to her right and saw a handsome man, with jet black hair and soft green eyes looking at her. She bit her lip, _Where am I? Is Joe here? _She looked around for her boyfriend inside the fancy room and saw that there was no one else but her and the man inside the room. _Oh Joe…I need your help._

"Don't look so scared. I'm not going to hurt you," the man said softly, walking slowly towards her. "Now, I'm just going to free you from those ropes. No need to worry. I won't hurt you," he repeated again. When he reached Vanessa, he went beside her, bent down and worked on the ropes on both sides, setting the girl free after a few seconds. Vanessa stood up right away and backed away from the man.

"I'm Marc," the man introduced, after a few moments of silence. Vanessa didn't answer.

"I hope this won't scare you, but I know that you're Vanessa… right?" Marc asked with a soft, sincere smile.

__

I don't care if your smile is charming, Vanessa thought, her defenses up. She looked at the guy in front of her suspiciously. Then, she looked around the room which resembled an expensive hotel bedroom. There was a queen-sized bed with blue and white floral cover, complimenting the light blue wallpaper of the room. A small dresser was beside the bed. On the other side of the bed was a large cabinet and beside the cabinet was a closed door. _I wonder where it leads to…a bathroom maybe? _she thought. _If I want to escape from here, I should know where I'll go. _She looked at the door where the man entered. _Should I go there? _Opposite the bed was a full body mirror and beside it was a painting of a little girl on a swing. _Why am I here? What happened? _Vanessa thought hard and remembered what happened: hospital, car, chloroform and darkness.

Marc, on the other hand, has a different thought in his mind. _She's so much like Belle! When I first met Belle, she was so defensive. And beautiful, just like this girl._ He cleared his throat and said, "Would you like anything? Juice, soda, water or cookies perhaps? I can call the maid to serve you anything you want."

"You kidnap me, then you expect me to suddenly act like a guest for you?" Vanessa asked, annoyed by the man's attitude. She was surprised when Marc looked at her with a surprised look. _He's either a nominee for Best Actor or he's genuinely surprised…_

"What?" Vanessa asked again in the same annoyed voice, taking deep breaths.

"Oh, I'm sorry for treating you that way, if it's not what you want. And for staring at you like that… I'm sorry. You just reminded me of… someone very special to me," Marc suddenly looked away then turned his eyes away from Vanessa.

__

"I'm so sorry. I didn't notice you were behind me and, here, let me help you," the young man bent down to help the blonde teen whose dress was now ruined, splashed with some sweet tea.

The girl didn't reply, she kept dabbing at her sky blue dress with a tissue.

"I'm really sorry. Look, um, I know you're probably upset right now for what I did. Maybe I can pay you back or something-" Marc Edwin wasn't able to finish his sentence when the girl suddenly spoke up.

"You're right about me, being upset right now. The last thing I want to you to do is to show off at me, telling such things as 'paying back'! I don't need you're money," she lashed out, her blue-gray eyes ablaze with anger.

"Wha-" Marc was very surprised to hear the teen's reply. 'She thought I was showing off!'

I didn't thought she would be the girl of my life, Marc thought, smiling at the memory.

"Excuse me? Where am I? Why did you kidnap me?" Vanessa asked, her voice showing anger despite the slight fear in her eyes, breaking into Marc's thoughts.

"I'm sorry. Like what I said, I'm Marc. Don't worry, you're in a safe place and-" Marc was stopped short when the tall, blonde girl got angry again.

"Safe place?! Oh, great, you knock me out with chloroform, kidnap me and now you're telling me I'm in a safe place?!" Vanessa wasn't finished. "What do you want with me? You're behind those attacks, aren't you? You're the reason why Gwyneth's in the hospital! And why my friends and my boyfriend were hurt!"

Marc was speechless. She reminded him of Belle but at the mention of the word 'boyfriend', he remembered that this is Vanessa Bender in front of him, not Belle Smiths. "Yes, I won't deny that. But I've got a reason why I'm doing that."

"Oh really? What is that?" Vanessa countered, her voice firm, trying hard not to show the man in front of him that she's afraid. "Before you kill me, I want to know the reason behind all of this first." _I'm learning_, she couldn't help thinking. _Too much of hanging out with the Hardys, _she thought, biting her lip as she realized how much she wanted to have Joe with her right now. _I'm so scared._

"Kill you?!" Marc couldn't help cry out. _Is this girl insane? Why would I kill her? _"Why would I kill you?"

It was now Vanessa's turn to be confused. "Huh?" _If he won't kill me… why would… oh! He must be using me as part of his trap to get Frank and… Joe!_

"If you're going to use me as part of your trap to get Frank and Joe, I'd rather have you kill me than hurt them," Vanessa said, blocking her emotions inside. "But I'm sure they'll save me anyway," she added confidently, trying to be her optimistic self. She was more surprised when Marc started laughing.

"I don't know what you're talking about this trap to the Hardys. But one thing's for sure, I won't kill you. I just want to have you with… with me." He shook his head, a smile forming in his lips. _This is going to be great. It's like… like I have Belle with me again! _He looked at Vanessa again and asked, "Can I ask you again if there's anything you want?"

Vanessa was just speechless. Totally speechless. _What does this guy want? Me?! What's the connection with the case? I'm so confused._

* * *


End file.
